Handbook on veterinary products R&D out

The operation of unlicensed laboratories may be stopped with the help of a handbook to guide laboratories in their research and development (R&D) activities in veterinary biological products.

Entitled "Handbook on Philippine Guidelines and Requirements for the Establishment of Veterinary Biological Products Research and Development Laboratory," the handbook harmonized different regulatory guidelines and requirements from various government agencies and even those from international statutes in an effort to halt the operation of unlicensed laboratories. It also seeks to iron out differences among regulatory policies, technical, legal and ethical concerns prior to commercialization of developed products.

The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD) funded the said undertaking.

Experts from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI), the academe, and the private sector consolidate and reviewed the existing guidelines and statutes through a series of consultations and meetings. These initial guidelines then passed critiquing of the Veterinary Technical Advisory Committee (VTAC) of the DA-BAI whose comments and additional inputs were incorporated into the final print of the handbook.

The team assured that the consolidated guidelines are applicable under Philippine setting and will be useful for researchers from government, academe, and private institutions involved in R&D on veterinary biological products.

Alongside this PCARRD-led undertaking, DA-BAI amended its AO No. 15 series f 1991 with AO No. 21 series of 2002. This amended AO required all laboratories engaged in R&D veterinary biological products to secure a veterinary biologic establishment license before they are allowed to operate. The provisions of AO No. 15, however, shall continue to apply where it is in conflict with the new guidelines set in the handbook. – S&T Media Service