Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Global regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical industry leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the global availability of safe and effective medicines at the 2nd International Forum of Pharmaceutical Inspectorates (IFPI), held on November 24-25 in Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Shaikha Al Mazrouei, Director of the Reference National Laboratory, Drug Department at the Emirates Drug Establishment, said: “Today, we are discussing how regulatory harmonisation can help ensure that medicines are available to patients in our countries on faster and safer pathways.”
She underscored the need for deeper integration of the pharmaceutical sector into global regulatory frameworks. “The Forum provides an important chance for the pharma community to gather and discuss the challenges that it faces and how it can help each other overcome them,” Dr. Mazrouei said.
The programme featured high-level plenary sessions with representatives from regulatory authorities and industry experts from Russia, the UAE, France, Serbia, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, the US, Cuba, Chile, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ecuador and multiple African nations. Sessions addressed regulatory challenges, the harmonisation of pharmaceutical production requirements, and approaches to mutual recognition of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspection results. Delegates also discussed inspection mechanisms for biological products and strategies to improve access to modern medicines across varying healthcare systems.
“Cooperation between regulatory authorities increases the availability of high-quality, safe, and effective medicines while improving transparency,” said Vladislav Shestakov, Co-Chair of the Organising Committee and Director of the State Institute of Drugs and Good Practices (SID & GP) of the Russian Federation.
Dmitry Galkin, Director of the Department for the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and Head of the Russian GMP Inspectorate, said the global regulatory environment is undergoing rapid transformation. With innovations such as gene therapies and antibody-based medicines emerging at unprecedented speed, regulatory systems must adapt continuously, he noted.
“A new architecture of global pharmaceutical regulation is taking shape, where mutual recognition of inspections, data exchange, and comparable quality standards become key elements,” he said.
Dr. Olga Lidia Jacobo Casanueva, Director of Cuba’s Center for State Control of Medicines, said: “The IFPI Forum demonstrates how global collaboration can substantially strengthen regulatory systems and elevate the quality, consistency, and integrity of GMP inspections worldwide.”
