FDA Commissioner Hamburg to Visit India

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is set to travel to Delhi, Cochin and Mumbai, India, later this month in a bid to strengthen U.S.-India cooperation, the agency said Wednesday.

In Delhi, she will meet with the country’s commerce and health ministers as well as the Drug Controller General of India. Hamburg also hopes to meet with regulatory affairs officials at the state level and CEOs of drug companies, agency spokeswoman Erica Jefferson told Drug Daily Bulletin. 

While in Cochin, Hamburg will meet with World Health Organization officials, deliver remarks at the World Spice Congress and tour seafood and spice facilities. From there, she will travel to Mumbai to meet with female business leaders in pharma and biotech and participate in a U.S. Embassy press roundtable.

“Indian regulators are important strategic partners to the FDA and regular engagement is essential,” the agency said.

The meeting follows a number of high-profile FDA enforcement actions in India, including imposing strictures on Indian manufacturing plants owned by Ranbaxy. Five of the generic drug giant’s facilities have been placed on a consent decree that the company signed in 2012 to rectify various manufacturing deviations.  — Lena Freund

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