New TGA agreement a boost for Australian pharmaceutical exports

An additional building block that will help cement Australia as a pharmaceutical hub in the South Asia region was unveiled today in Parliament House Canberra.

An additional building block that will help cement Australia as a pharmaceutical hub in the South Asia region was unveiled today in Parliament House Canberra.The launch of Singapores special recognition of Australian approvals for prescription medicines is a boost for the Australian pharmaceutical industry and will help grow exports.This is a vital partnership between the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore, which will enhance the status of the TGA as one of the worlds top five regulatory agencies, said the Chief Executive of Medicines Australia, Kieran Schneemann.This historic agreement will build on other partnerships recently announced by Federal and State Governments, all of which are aimed at strategically positioning the Australian pharmaceutical industry to advantage in our region.The TGA has been working with Singapores Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to develop Singapores capabilities to undertake evaluations of new therapeutic goods, mainly medicines.The HSA has indicated that it will now expedite examination of new medicines on the basis of a TGA approval alone, said Mr Schneemann.Our industry in Australia exported approximately $1.8 billion in pharmaceuticals in 1999-2000.This special recognition will provide speedier access to the Singapore market and potentially to the whole South Asian market for our companies, and will help Australia become a regulatory-manufacturing hub in that region. (Source: Medicines Australia, Kieran Schneemann)