Quality of Drugs Is Primary Issue Facing CFDA, Minister Says

Focusing primarily on the cost of generic drugs will cause problems in quality, declared Jingquan Bi, Minister of the CFDA, in a rare public appearance. If price is the major concern, drugmakers will eventually use substandard ingredients and cut other corners, resulting in ineffective products, he said. The CFDA's focus must be on equivalency of generic drugs to the originator product. If a generic passes the equivalency test, Bi believes the government should support the product. Although drugmakers want the CFDA to concentrate on speeding up approvals of new products, Bi stressed the need to test new and existing generic drugs. More details....