Contributed Articles & Editorials

USP frequently contributes articles and editorials to professional media. Visit the links below to access full articles. Please note: you may be directed to an outside web page.

  • Microbiology Expert Committee Takes Closer Look at Contamination, Antibiotic Potency and Modern Methods
      A3P Association (Association pour les produits propres et stériles) (02/2012)—A major concern for manufacturers is the extent of microbial contamination in a finished product. In this piece, USP’s Radhakrishna S. Tirumalai discusses what the USP Microbiology Expert Committee is doing to several new or revised General Chapters pertaining to this topic.
  • Inside USP: Global Harmonization Presents Opportunities and Challenges
      Pharmaceutical Technology (01/2012)—USP’s Anthony DeStefano and Kevin Moore give a history of the Pharmacopoeial Discussion Group, its efforts to harmonize standards and how industry can help improve these efforts.
  • Spotlight on OTCs
      Pharmaceutical Executive (11/2011)—CEO Roger L. Williams highlights USP’s efforts to modernize its monograph standards for over-the-counter medicines in close coordination with industry and FDA.
  • USP Improves Biologic Quality Standards
      Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (10/2011)—As more biologics enter the therapeutic marketplace, the need for public quality standards that can address the functional and structural complexity of biologics as well as the analytical challenges associated with their characterization grows. USP’s approach to these standards is the focus of the article by USP’s Tina Morris.
  • Dietary Supplements and the Food Chemical Codex: A Look at Tomorrow's Standards for Botanicals
      Nutritional Outlook (09/2011)—The importance of verifying the quality, purity and authenticity of high value natural products is the focus of this article by USP’s Markus Lipp.
  • A Closer Look at Chemical Contamination
      Food Safety Magazine (08/2011)—The differences between contamination and adulteration, the dangers of economically motivated adulteration of food ingredients, and preventative approaches including adherence to quality standards are among the topics discussed in this piece with USP's Markus Lipp.
  • Developing an International Dialogue on Biologics Standards
      BioPharm International (08/2011)—Horizontal standards and a product-class approach to USP's standards for biologics, as well as a preview of topics at the upcoming USP Science & Standards Symposium in Seattle focused on biologics and biotechnology, are featured in this article written by USP's Tina Morris.
  • Medicines Quality Faces Challenges
      Chemical & Engineering News (06/2011)—Opportunities and hurdles in providing high-quality medicines to the world's population are discussed by USP CEO Roger L. Williams in this "International Year of Chemistry" essay.
  • Monograph Makeover Requires Industry Input
      Pharmaceutical Technology (05/2011)—USP's Karen Russo and Shawn Dressman address USP's monograph modernization effort, and the important role of industry participation in this process.
  • USP Product-Class Standards for Biologics
      BioPharm International (03/2011)—USP's Tina Morris discusses a class approach to standards for quality in biopharmaceuticals.
  • Natural or Synthetic—How Do you Know?
      Natural Products Insider (02/2011)—A team of USP food scientists write about a new method proposed in the Food Chemicals Codex for determining the bio-based content of food ingredients and dietary supplements-a relevant topic given consumers' increasing desire for "natural" products.
  • Ensuring Drug Quality: A Complex Task in a Globalized Era
      Pharmaceutical Executive (01/2011)—CEO Roger L. Williams highlights USP's efforts to modernize its monograph standards in close coordination with industry and FDA, as well as continuing to expand its work beyond the United States.

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  • Inside USP: Adulteration and Contamination Awareness
      Pharmaceutical Technology (11/2010)—USP's Anthony DeStefano writes about the dangers of economically motivated adulteration of medicines and other contamination issues—and how USP is responding in its standards-setting approach.
  • Standards Evolve to Meet Needs of Pharmaceutical Industry, Advance Public Health
      Pharmaceutical Processing (10/2010)—USP's Desmond Hunt focuses on the importance of modern packaging and distribution standards for pharmaceuticals in light of supply chain complexities in a globalized industry.
  • Food Safety Challenges: Meeting Consumer Demands While Maintaining a Safe Food Supply
      Food Safety Magazine (10/2010)—USP's James Griffiths and Markus Lipp highlight the role of quality standards for food ingredients, looking specifically at infant formula ingredients.
  • Inside USP: Modernizing the Compendia
      Pharmaceutical Technology (09/2010)—USP's Karen Russo describes a new monograph modernization initiative by USP—and the critical role that the pharmaceutical industry will play in this activity to update standards in the interest of public health.
  • Industry Input Needed on Bioassay Standards
      BioPharm International (07/2010)—USP's Tina Morris writes about the organization's efforts to develop guidance and tools for manufacturers and regulators to use in evaluating bioassays, particularly as an increasing number of biologic medicines aim to enter the marketplace.
  • Inside USP: Positioned for Growth
      Pharmaceutical Technology (06/2010)—USP Chief Executive Officer Roger L. Williams provides an overview of the USP Convention's 2010 Meeting, including the passage of a series of resolutions that will impact industry, regulators, and consumers; the remarks of FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg on the close collaboration between FDA and USP; and the election of a new Board of Trustees and Council of Experts.
  • Ensuring Brand Protection and Consumer Safety
      Food Manufacturing (05/2010)—Food fraud—the intentional adulteration of food with less-expensive ingredients for economic gain—and the role of quality standards in deterring this activity is the focus of this article by USP's Markus Lipp.
  • Inside USP: USP Reaches 2500 Reference Standards
      Pharmaceutical Technology (04/2010)—USP's William Koch discusses the importance of reference standards in the pharmaceutical industry, and how advances in modern analytical methods for characterizing medicines, a growing international presence, and increasing partnerships have contributed to a USP milestone of 2500 reference standards.
  • Food Defense in the Global Environment: The Role of Quality Standards
      Food Safety Magazine  (02/2010)—USP's James Griffiths and Markus Lipp explore current food safety challenges, the role of quality standards for food ingredients in the era of globalization, and two case studies for melamine and Rebaudioside A.
  • Pharmacy Outlook '10 (2.4MB)
      Chain Drug Review (01/2010)—USP Chief Executive Officer Roger L. Williams looks at challenges and progress in the area of drug quality in 2009—including episodes of adulteration and new standards designed to advance patient safety—as well as what to expect in 2010.
  • Traditional Chinese Medicines and Western Regulatory Paradigms
      Pharmaceutical Technology (07/2009)—USP's James Griffiths discusses regulatory options and compendial standards for Traditional Chinese Medicines.
  • A Quality Standard
      Nutritional Outlook (05/2009)—USP's James Griffiths and Gabriel Giancaspro write about USP's new Dietary Supplements Compendium, a comprehensive resource for the supplement industry.
  • Pharmacy Outlook '09
      Chain Drug Review (01/2009)—USP Chief Executive Officer Roger L. Williams offers his views on key issues and challenges for the drug and food industries in 2009 and beyond, including globalization, the importance of quality standards, and harmonization.
  • The Hunt for Inferior Drugs
      Pharmaceutical Formulation & Quality (01/2009)—USP Drug Quality and Information Program's Souly Phanouvong and Marilyn Foster provide an overview of the program's work in developing countries to root out counterfeit and substandard drugs.
  • FDA's Dietary Supplement CGMPs: Standards without Standardization
      Food and Drug Law Journal (11/2008)—In this article, USP discusses the role that public quality standards, in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration's current Good Manufacturing Practices, can play in ensuring the quality and consistency of dietary supplements and ingredients. This electronic copy of copyrighted material was made and delivered to you under permission from Food and Drug Law Institute. No further reproduction is permitted.
  • Heavy Metal Testing for Dietary Supplements
      Natural Products Insider (10/2008)—USP Vice President of General Chapters Anthony DeStefano and Senior Scientist Kahkashan Zaidi write about the problem of contamination in botanical and non-botanical dietary supplements and their ingredients with metal impurities-and USP's approach to revising its standards.
  • Improving Food Safety through Public Standards for Food Ingredients
      Food Safety Magazine (08/2008)—USP Chief Science Officer Darrell Abernethy and Vice President of Food & Dietary Supplement Standards Jim Griffiths explain the role that quality standards for food ingredients can play in helping to assure the safety of the food supply.
  • USP'S FOOD CHEMICALS CODEX: A Way to Enhance Food Safety Standards
      FDLI Update (05/2008)—USP Vice President of Food & Dietary Supplement Standards Jim Griffiths and Director of Government Affairs Ben Firschein offer an overview of current food safety efforts in the United States as well as ways to enhance food safety, including increased legal recognition of quality standards and third-party verification programs.