31 Aug USP welcomes Executive Delegation from SAHPRA
August 30, 2023, Rockville, MD – United States Pharmacopeia (USP) welcomed an executive delegation of senior leadership from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to its Rockville headquarters, capping off a two-part visit from the regulator. During the visits, USP and SAHPRA exchanged ideas and shared perspectives, and explored areas of expanded technical collaboration.
USP and SAHPRA signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022 to help expand the availability of health products that are safe, efficacious, and of assured quality and support SAHPRA in its overall aim to achieve the World Health Organization Maturity Level 4, a designation reserved for regulatory systems that operate at the most advanced levels of performance. USP also supports SAHPRA in its efforts to serve as a center of regulatory excellence and expand its capacity in the areas of medical devices and biologics.
“Our partnership with USP helps leverage state-of-the-art science in quality assurance and regulatory practice and helps strengthen our ability to be responsive to today’s regulatory challenges,” indicates SAHPRA CEO, Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela. “We look forward to where this partnership will take us in the years to come.”
In December 2022, the Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+) program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by USP, held a joint workshop in partnership with SAHPRA to strengthen regulatory oversight of vaccines in the region as part of the U.S. Government’s Global VAX initiative, which mobilised U.S. resources and expertise toward the global goal of vaccinating 70% of the population of every country against COVID-19. The workshop is one of several areas of technical assistance being provided to SAHPRA through the PQM+ program.
“We are proud of our enduring collaboration with SAHPRA,” Ronald T. Piervincenzi, Ph.D., USP CEO. “Both through our MOU as well as continued partnership, we know that SAHPRA will be well positioned to continue to advance regulatory excellence not only in South Africa, but also in the region and throughout the continent.”