Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF), a charitable organisation maintained by Merck, is pleased to announce the release of five more test protocols for its Minilab, a self-contained and mobile mini-laboratory that provides the tools for rapid drug quality verification and easy detection of falsified medicines by determining whether a product’s content differ from what its packaging indicates.
Minilab users in the medicines supply chains of Asia, Africa and Latin America will clearly benefit from the latest extension of the Minilab’s method inventory. New test methods are now available for gentamicin, doxycycline, benzathine benzylpenicillin, benzylpenicillin sodium, benzylpenicillin potassium and procaine benzylpenicillin including its fortified versions regardless whether these drug compounds are coming as injectable solution, powder for parenteral use or solid dosage form. Appropriate reference standards are supplied. Beyond this, the Minilab’s technical platform stays unchanged and forms a needs-based innovation for resource-constrained health settings intending to boost their medicines testing capacity.
The latest Minilab supplement is published jointly with the Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) programme maintained by the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Demo versions are accessible in English, French and Spanish at the GPHF-Homepage. Printed copies are obtainable at our logistic partner Technology Transfer Marburg (TTM).
So far, over 730 Minilabs have been supplied to over 90 countries. There, they help developing nations in boosting their medicines testing capacity. Current focus is on six therapeutic segments: antibiotics, anti-TB drugs, antimalarials, ARVs and medicines for NTDs and cardiovascular diseases. The GPHF-Minilab comes with all the lab equipment, reagents, reference standards and protocols needed to perform non-sophisticated, affordable tests at the point of screening with minimal training.
Access to quality pharmaceutical products is a continuing concern. To increase the Minilab’s range of applications even further, the GPHF will go on to invest more in test method development for essential drugs and other prevailing medicines. Falsified medicines threaten the lives of millions of people around the world. The GPHF and its partners are working to prevent fake medicines reaching the patients in developing countries. Minilabs save lives.
Yours sincerely, 
Richard Jähnke, PhD
Project Management