ICH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

The Steering Committee for the Second International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) of technical requirements for the registration of pharmaceutical products in the European Community, Japan and the USA held a meeting in Washington DC on March 23-24 (Marketletter March 30).

The purpose of the joint regulatory/industry Steering Committee meeting was to review the progress which has been made since the first ICH, held in Brussels last November, and also to set in motion preparations for ICH 2, which is scheduled to take place in the USA during the last quarter of 1993.

Reviewing the outcome of ICH 1, the Steering Committee said that reports from the regulatory agencies in the three regions indicated that progress has already been made in following up the recommendations which had been made in Brussels last November. The proceedings of ICH 1are to be published shortly. It was agreed that the second Conference should be based on the same principles of preparat-ory consultation and discussion, through joint regulatory/industry Expert Working Groups, which led to the successful outcome of the first ICH. This preparatory work will be carried out under the direction of the ICH Steering Committee.