Drug and ingredient quality-focused agreements with a Brazilian regulator, industry body and university were inked by the US Pharmacopeia (USP) when it hosted a symposium in São Paulo.
Dirceu Barbano, director president of ANVISA (National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance), said: “With Brazil’s continuing emergence as a centre for global pharmaceutical manufacturing, cooperative efforts with organizations like USP will help to refine and strengthen our capabilities.”
Under the agreement the USP and ANVISA will develop joint education programmes for people who formulate and use pharmacopeial monograph standards. The USP will work towards these goals from its site in São Paulo and headquarters in Maryland, US.
Industry ties
Following the symposium the USP also entered into an agreement with a local university and renewed its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brazilian industry group Sindusfarma.
“In helping to ensure a high-quality supply of pharmaceutical products and ingredients in Brazil and throughout the world, Sindusfarma looks forward to a continued and strengthened working relationship with USP” Lauro Moretto, executive vice president of Sindusfarma, said.
Like the original 2008 MOU, the new relationship focuses on sharing information to improve the quality of ingredients and finished products. Harmonisation of pharmaceutical standards is another goal.
Again, USP will use its Brazilian and US sites in the agreement. Leaders from Sindusfarma, which lists companies that account for 85 per cent of medicines sold in Brazil as members, will also be involved.
Academic agreement
The USP also formed a cooperative agreement with the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of São Paulo. Goals of the agreement are similar to the MOU with ANVISA.
“Partnerships like the one between the university and USP will help to ensure that we are cultivating and applying the best scientific knowledge and expertise to accomplish our goals”, Jorge Mancini Filho, dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said.