The Caribbean Public Health Agency’s Caribbean Regulatory System (CARPHA/CRS) is pleased to announce the signing of two additional Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Guyana and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (OECS/PPS).
The CARPHA/CRS is a new value-added service to Member States to help them review and monitor the efficacy, safety, and quality of medicines sold within their borders. The initiative aims to fast-track the approval of known high-quality essential generic medicines, through faster review timelines, and by giving companies a single portal of entry to CARICOM markets of roughly 17 million people.
The small states of CARICOM face capacity challenges in regulation of medicines, including having large backlogs and wait times for product approvals, and limited to no quality/safety monitoring of medicines in use by patients.
The signing of the MOU with the Government of Guyana allows for stronger engagement with the CARPHA/CRS, including on sharing information and processing decisions. The MOU with OECS/PPS is important because many in the OECS group do not have regulatory authorities of their own, and the MOU allows the OECS/PPS to both procure CRS recommended products, and to share quality/safety related information. Further, the OECS/PPS MOU gives industry using the CRS access to the OECS/PPS pharmaceutical procurement market with an annual value of roughly $8 million.
Interested companies should visit the CRS website here, and/or contact the CRS at: CRSregistration@CARPHA.org.