The panel, set up by the pharmaceutical department for working out a mechanism to negotiate the prices of drugs patented outside the country, has met the captains of select multinational companies to brief on its draft model, but the meeting failed to arrive at a final conclusion.

The Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) has taken a decision to discontinue issuance of WHO GMP certificate for both pharma products and plant audits. The decision comes in the wake of objection raised by the World Health Organization on handing over these certificates at random.

The Union Health Ministry is planning to set up a central procurement agency to bring more transparency and efficiency in its dealing, even as the pharmaceutical department is set to take up the issue with Railways and other agencies on hiking the turnover limit for participating in the purchase bids.

After hurriedly redrafting, the Union health ministry is learnt to have sent the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2007 on the formation of the Central Drug Authority (CDA), to the law ministry for vetting. After the law ministry's vetting, the Bill will be tabled in Parliament in the forthcoming session which is scheduled to begin on February 12.