The MHRA received a £1.3 million ($1.73 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to take part in a joint World Health Organization project to improve safety monitoring of medicines in low and middle-income countries.

Under Project Smart Safety Surveillance (Project 3-S) the agency will contribute its regulatory knowledge for three-years, to help low and middle-income countries handle risks associated with new drug products. The agency expects to run three pilot exercises. 

“We are delighted to be involved in such an important global initiative,” said MHRA’s CEO Ian Hudson. “New drugs and vaccines are being brought to the market for the first time in public health programs in settings where the safety monitoring and regulatory systems need strengthening.”