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Drugs, diagnostics and medical technology
Drugs, diagnostics and medical devices, and the regulators and standards that keep them safe: drug approval and trials, the pharmacopoeia, substandard medicines, generics, prices and pharmacovigilance. It serves GS3 answers on science and technology in health.
11 Sep 2026 · 4 Aug 2026 · Prelims
Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission
A pharmacopoeia is the official book of standards a medicine must meet for identity, purity and strength, and India's is written by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC). Setting those standards is one half of the Commission's work; the other is watching what medicines and devices do once they are in use.
Works under
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Publishes
- The Indian Pharmacopoeia, the official drug standards under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
Runs
- Pharmacovigilance Programme of India
- Materiovigilance Programme of India
11 Sep 2026 · Prelims
Enoxaparin sodium reference substance
Biological medicines such as heparins cannot be fully characterised chemically, so their strength is measured by bioassay rather than by chemical analysis. A bioassay is only as good as the sample it is compared against, and in September 2026 the Commission issued that sample for enoxaparin sodium.
- The IPC released an Indian Pharmacopoeia Reference Substance (IPRS) for enoxaparin sodium bioassays.
- An IPRS is the sample a laboratory measures a batch against, so a standard has a physical yardstick and not only a printed limit.
- Enoxaparin sodium is a low molecular weight heparin, an anticoagulant used against thromboembolic disorders.
4 Aug 2026 · Prelims
WHO South-East Asia Regulatory Network
The World Health Organization runs a regional network of drug regulators in South-East Asia, and it names national bodies to lead particular pieces of the work. Two of those designations now sit with the IPC.
- The WHO South-East Asia Regulatory Network (SEARN) named the IPC its Regional Centre of Excellence in Pharmacovigilance.
- The IPC is also the network's Technical Centre in Quality of Medicines.
- The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office set up SEARN in 2016.