The joint secretary of DoP, Mr Sudhansh Pant toured the USP's Hyderabad facility and met with senior level scientists. The purpose of his visit was to better understand the efforts USP is making in India to create standards for medicines, ensure full safety and quality of medicines and bring to India international standards in drug manufacture.

India's continued export growth in pharmaceuticals requires that every drug exported meets with the highest quality and safety requirements. USP is uniquely positioned to provide guidelines in this area.

The joint secretary's discussion with USP India touched upon various aspects of ensuring the quality of  medicines in India and how USP standards could help Indian manufacturers to import their products both
to the US and to other countries. Mr. Pant also enquired about the verification program and process and  showed interest in the education and training programs conducted by USP. He was very impressed by the state-of-the-art facility and appreciated the quality and safety aspects maintained in the facility.

Dr KV Surendranath, Senior Vice President- International Sites Operations said, "We welcome this  opportunity to showcase our technical expertise to the Department of Pharmaceuticals. We see ourselves  as partners in India's efforts to produce safe and high quality medicines that meet all global standards. We hope to continue with future engagements with the DoP on various aspects related to quality of medicines and to address issues of critical importance to patient safety."

Mr Sudhansh Pant commented that he was very impressed and that the visit was quite enlightening and informative. He noted the commendable work being done at the facility in the field of standards, testing and research and the various collaborations in the interest of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

Mr Pant  hoped that other governments and private institutions will benefit from the presence of USP's world class facility in Hyderabad.