June 29, 2011
Dear USP Members and Observers,
I want to make sure you know that USP has just launched an important resource to help ensure that medicines and their ingredients used around the world are of good quality.
The new USP Medicines Compendium (MC) is a free, online collection of public standards to support good quality medicines through tests, procedures, and acceptance criteria for critical quality attributes. The MC will include standards for medicines legally marketed in various countries. These standards are voluntary, unless they are adopted by a regulatory authority. Initially, the MC will include 10 proposed standards for public comment, and another 11 standards proposed for development.
Because MC standards are freely available and voluntary, they may be used to support the text and work of other pharmacopeias, and not to supplant it. MC standards may be especially useful for manufacturers who export to countries with scarce regulatory resources and no national pharmacopeia.
USP is in a special position to develop this compendium-a manifestation of our global public health mission. I am attaching our news release and a frequently asked questions document. I encourage you to take a look at the MC, and provide us with feedback.
Sincerely,
Roger L. Williams, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer
US Pharmacopeial Convention
Copy to Executive Officers 11–09
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