ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: A federal drug surveillance laboratory is being established at the National Institute of Health (NIH) to strengthen the mechanism of testing the quality of drugs in the country.

An important feature of the laboratory that would cost Rs166 million, is the Bio-equivalence Centre. The project is expected to be completed in 18 months.

Speaking at the project-launching ceremony of the laboratory, the federal health minister, Nasir Khan, said it would act as a reference centre for certifying drugs for exports, standardization and establishing of standards for active pharmaceutical ingredients.

This, he said, would be in addition to the routine testing and analysis of samples received from drug inspectors and other referring organizations and post marketing surveillance of the medicines.

Mr Khan said the laboratory would help ensure availability of safe, efficacious and quality drugs to the general public. The health ministry, he said, would also strive to strengthen the network of drug laboratories in the provinces, to keep a tab on the quality of medicines being sold.

The health ministry previously had a drug-testing laboratory in Karachi, which had become overburdened. Also, officials say, a state-of-the-art laboratory was required to improve the testing capacity of the central laboratory.

The officials say the bio-equivalence centre, being set up as part of the laboratory, would be the first of its kind in the country. Such tests were previously carried out overseas and involved huge costs.

The setting up of the bio-equivalence centre, they believed, would not only help improve the quality of drugs in the country, but also help the pharmaceutical industry boost its exports.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has showed significant growth in recent years, is meeting 75 per cent of the local needs and is also exporting medicines worth US$80 million annually.