China launched a campaign on Thursday to promote the use of
technology to guarantee the safety of pharmaceuticals and
patients.
"The number of drug-related accidents has risen in recent years
and the cases involving the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical and the
Xinfu drugs has attracted the attention and concern of the central
government," said Shao Mingli, head of the State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA). "It's time for us to take action to prevent
such accidents."
The campaign, launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology
(MOST), the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
(SATCM) and the SFDA, will provide full technological support for
every step of a drug's journey from laboratory to patient.
"We will solve up to ten major technological problems concerning
drug safety over the next five to ten years and set up three to
five authorized and standard drug safety research and review
centers," said Wang Hongguang, director of the China Biotech
Development Center.
Through the campaign, we also hope to improve innovation in
drugs manufacturing and raise the competitiveness of Chinese
medicine in the mainstream international market, Wang added.
SFDA, China's national drug regulator, has revoked the license
of the maker of the Xinfu drug, an antibiotic blamed for at least
six deaths and dozens of illnesses. Patients who took the
antibiotic developed severe adverse reactions, such as chest,
kidney or stomach pains, vomiting and anaphylactic shock.
Earlier this year, 11 people were killed after injecting a drug
made by the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in the
northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)