Monday, 25 June 2018｜Source：CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCEFOR IMPORT&EXPORT OF MEDICINES &HEALTH PRODUCTS｜Author：
On June 21, 2018, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission (ChP) and Japanese Pharmacopoeia Commission successfully held the first ChP-JP Forum. More than 200 representatives attended the forum, including officials from China National Drug Administration (CNDA), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), the ChP Commission, the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), and delegates from pharmaceutical research, production, and inspection organizations from China and Japan.
Yuan Lin, Director General of Department of International Cooperation of CNDA, delivered the opening speech at the Forum and highly praised ChP Commission for its extensive achievements in the international cooperation in pharmacopoeia standards. Director General Yuan Lin emphasized that currently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the safety of food and drugs. Policies for reforming drugs and medical devices review and approval system have been introduced one after one, and encouraging policies have been released, bringing development of China’s pharmaceutical industry to a fast track. It has become an inevitable trend to accelerate the harmonization and coordination with international drug regulatory policies and standards. Drug standards, while ensuring safe use of drugs for the public, also play an important role in promoting the development of the internationalization for the industry.
In his speech, Dr Takao Yamori, Executive Director of PMDA, stated that China’s reform on drug review and approval system has continued to deepen. In recent years, China’s pharmaceutical industry has achieved rapid development and standards in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia have been updated more rapidly than ever. The Japanese pharmaceutical institution attaches great importance to technical cooperation and exchanges with ChP Commission, and both sides have a good basis for cooperation, especially around traditional medicines. The ChP-JP Forum will play an important role in further deepening mutual understanding, exploring areas for cooperation, and promoting the development of pharmacopoeia standards in both countries.
Zhang Wei, Secretary General of ChP Commission, stated in his speech that in line with the principle of “equality, mutual trust, mutual learning, complementary advantages, and win-win cooperation”, the Commission has signed MoU on bilateral cooperation with pharmacopeia institutions of the US, the UK, European countries, Japan, and Kazakhstan and has established close cooperation with them. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia has become an important force in the revision of international pharmacopoeia standards and has transformed its role from a participant to a bellwether, leading standards development instead of merely drawing experiences from others. The history of drug cooperation between China and Japan dates back to ancient times. Both countries share common cultural and historical background in the field of herbal medicines and have broad prospects for cooperation in standards development for chemical drugs, biopharmaceuticals, excipients, and packaging materials.
At the Forum, Chinese and foreign experts and scholars including Dr. Tomoko Osawa, Dr. Tsuyoshi Ando, and Dr. Yoshihiro Katsura from PMDA, Mr. Jiangning Li, Director of Drug Registration Division of CNDA, Dr. Junzhi Wang, Chief Expert of NIFDC, and Mr. Dean Guo, Director of Natural Medicine Committee of ChP and professor of Shanghai Institute of Medicine of Chinese Academy of Sciences, among others, gave presentations on the history and development of the two countries’ pharmacopoeias, drug management regulations, and technologies and standards for traditional medicines and innovative drugs. Man Wang, Director of drug regulatory affairs of Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Chen Su, Vice President of Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical and Kiyoshi Horie, member of the international committee of JPMA, exchanged views and suggestions on the significance of strengthening cooperation and harmonization of Chinese and Japanese pharmacopoeias, as well as the impact of such cooperation on industry development.
The ChP-JP Forum is a program to conduct substantive drug standards cooperation under the framework of the memorandum of cooperation between the Chinese and Japanese pharmacopoeia institutions. It takes the mission of establishing a new platform for the demonstration of pharmaceutical industry development and the cooperation on drug standards between the two sides through exchanges on technical issues. The two sides will enhance understanding through communication, promote cooperation through understanding, and in turn develop together in cooperation. The aim is to improve drug standards and drug quality, and ensure safe use of drugs for all.
After the ChP-JP Forum, the ChP-JP Close-door Meeting discuss details concerning the further bilateral cooperation, including high-level mutual visits, technical exchanges, organization of forums, coordination of standards, etc.
