SIFDS/PDA Shanghai Joint Development Center Unveils Office 30 June, 2009

Bethesda, Md. - Officials from the Shanghai Institute of Food and Drug Safety (SIFDS), a branch of the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration (SHFDA), and the Parenteral Drug Association, Inc. (PDA) celebrated the grand opening of a new office for the SIFDS/PDA Joint Development Center (SHJDC). The opening comes just nine months after PDA and SIFDS inked a Memorandum of Understanding that outlined a cooperative arrangement to facilitate information exchange and sharing.

Tang Minhao, deputy director, and Yan Liang, director of legal and international affairs, of the SHFDA, Xu Lai, director of the SIFDS, and Robert Myers and Richard Levy from PDA participated in the grand opening ceremony.

PDA President Robert Myers said at the ceremony, “Working with the SHFDA and the SIFDS is in line with PDA’s Vision to be the foremost global provider of science, technology and regulatory information and education for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry.”

Afterwards, Myers said, “It was truly an exciting moment for me to be witness to the opening of the SHJDC office, coming at the conclusion of our first two-day meeting in partnership with the SIFDS. I’m confident that this collaboration will continue to grow and contribute to the enhancement of quality and technology in China’s pharmaceutical industry for years to come.”

The opening ceremony came on the heels of the two-day 2009 PDA/FDA Asia-Pacific Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Conference, the first joint meeting held between PDA and the SIFDS under the September 8 Memorandum of Understanding. On June 15 and 16, pharmaceutical professionals from industry and the SHFDA gathered to hear presentations on best practices in pharmaceutical supply chain manufacture and control. This event also marked the last in a successful series of meetings PDA and the U.S. FDA held worldwide on the topic beginning in September 2008 in Washington, D.C.

Following the SHJDC opening ceremony, PDA, SIFDS and the SHFDA officials met to debrief on the two-day meeting and to plot the future course of the collaboration.

The overall impression of the meeting was positive. SHFDA official Tang Minhao expressed his satisfaction with the meeting, noting it established a solid foundation for the future. He indicated that the Chinese government was committed to providing support for future PDA programs with the SHFDA.

PDA Senior Vice President Richard Levy stated, “Based on our successes so far, we agreed to expand our educational efforts for 2010 by co-organizing two meetings, one focused on manufacturing sciences and the other on quality and regulatory issues of interest to China. PDA’s Wanda Neal’s leadership in managing the meetings in cooperation with the SIFDS staff will contribute to our success next year, as it did in 2009.”

SIFDS’ Lai noted that the PDA and her organization achieved seamless assistance and cooperation in setting up and executing the supply chain conference. The SHFDA would like to continue to discuss the overall cooperative program and further areas of collaboration, she said.

Joining Tang, Lai and Liang from the SHFDA at the ceremony were Chengdong Yi, deputy director.

Joining Myers and Levy from PDA were Robert Dana, senior vice president training and education, Wanda Neal, vice president, programs and meetings; Nahid Kiani, vice president, sales and membership; and Hal Baseman, PDA Board of Directors (ValSource LLC).

A representative of the U.S. FDA, Steven Wolfgang, consumer safety officer, also attended the festivities and spoke at the meeting.