Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is up for an overhaul towards becoming a world-class regulatory body.
Dr. Samuel Zacate, FDA director-general, told members of the Philippine Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry Inc. at their general membership meeting recently, the agency would remove red tape and introduce innovations within the agency more accessible and lower-priced medicines for Filipinos by ensuring fair competition in the pharmaceutical sector.
Zacate said the FDA will ensure the registration process of medicines will now be more efficient.
“With regard to the FDA, they have stringent requirements and internal processes, but now I have the power to streamline the internal processes, mostly on payments, assessments, and rigid (regulatory) conditions,” Zacate said.
Hey added the FDA will make importation process more efficient by improvising the Information Technology System of the Center for Drug Regulation and Research.
“The long culture of the FDA being on the safe side and being inside the box is long gone because I’m here now,” said Zacate, a diplomate of the Philippine Society of Venereology and a fellow of the International College of Surgeons.
Zacate also vowed to ensure the accessibility of medicines and make it less burden on Filipinos.
