National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar is organizing a two-week Intensive Training Program on Recent Trends and Challenges in Regulation and Standardization of Herbal Drugs and Formulations from 06^th August to 16^th August, 2018. This program is sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC). Total 16 participants from 11 countries (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago and Uzbekistan) with background of Drug Regulatory, Pharmacist and Quality Control and Academia, are attending this course. NIPER-SAS Nagar is conducting such training courses sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs since last 20 years. About 9 resource persons from the pharmaceutical industry, academia and regulatory agencies will deliver lectures and participate in the deliberations.  About 6 sessions will be held on hands on training experience on different analytical instruments. Visit to Regional Drug Testing laboratory, Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Chandigarh and 01 Industry visits are also a part of this ITEC program.

During inaugural function of this training program, Prof Raghuram Rao Akkinepally, Director NIPER, welcomed the participants saying that course can add new expertise and knowledge to the experience of the participants. The course on herbal regulation and standardization is essential for the establishing the herbal products’ market for the benefit of society.

Explaining about the objective of the course Prof. Sanjay Jachak, Course Coordinator informed that NIPER is organizing 3 more courses this year on the themes:

1. Pharmaceutical Quality by Design: A risk Based Approach (4^th September to 14^th September, 2018)
2. Recent Trends and Challenges in Biopharmaceuticals (3^rd October to 13^th October, 2018)
3. Advanced Analytical Techniques: Basic Principals and Application for Quality Assessment of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (22^nd October to 1^st November, 2018)

Stressing upon the course on Herbal Drugs and Formulations, he said that the use of traditional medicines (TM) and Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) has seen an upsurge in both developed and developing countries. Further he addressed about ever increasing global herbal drug market where India has lots of potential to contribute. The major concern of health authorities and public is the safety and efficacy, as well as the quality control, of these medicines which is a huge challenge. These challenges are related to regulatory status, assessment of safety and efficacy, quality control, safety monitoring and lack of knowledge about TM/CAM within national drug regulatory authorities. The proposed course aims at creating a platform for discussing issues related to herbal drugs worldwide and in the process impart knowledge about recent developments in the ever changing dynamics of herbal drugs and their formulations and promoting rational development of herbal drug products.

After this brief introduction about the course, the participants introduced themselves to the esteemed gathering.

Dr (Mrs.) Ajit Dua, CEO, Punjab Biotechnology Incubator (PBTI), Mohali was the chief guest of the function. She spoke about NIPER as being the premier institute in Pharma Sector in India. She assured the participants that they have come at a right place for this training on regulatory and standardization aspects of herbals. She congratulated NIPER for securing the top position in latest NIRF ranking.

The inaugural session ended with a group photo of all the participants with the Chief Guest.