Snap Observations: China Cleans House at Drug Approval Agency
The efforts of China’s State Food and Drug Administration to crack down on drug and medical device companies seems to be improving the industry’s reputation and will hopefully make for a safer marketplace. As the country’s economy grows, regulation will have to keep pace.
Three hundred drug and medical instrument manufacturers have been shut down; pharmaceutical companies withdrew 7,300 applications for drug approval; and 1,100 previously approved drugs and medical appliances were found to have been approved illegally. Wu Zhen, deputy commissioner of the SFDA told a press conference that, “the pharmaceutical companies are examining themselves in this special campaign and their awareness for drug safety has been greatly enhanced.”
Internal corruption has also plagued the SFDA. Former director Zheng Xiaoyu was executed in July for taking some $850,000 in bribes during his tenure.
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