CENTRAL DRUGS LABORATORY

Company: CENTRAL DRUGS LABORATORY, Pakistan

Type: Government Regulatory and Quality Control Institution

The Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) in Pakistan is a crucial government-owned and operated institution. It is neither a factory in the sense of manufacturing commercial products for sale nor a trading company involved in buying and selling drugs. Instead, it functions as the national reference laboratory responsible for ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of pharmaceutical products available in Pakistan.

Its primary role is to safeguard public health by conducting comprehensive analytical testing of drug samples. This includes:

* **Quality Assurance:** Performing chemical, physical, and biological analyses on drug products, raw materials, and intermediates to verify their compliance with national and international pharmacopoeial standards.

* **Regulatory Support:** Providing essential analytical data and expert opinions to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and other regulatory bodies to support market surveillance, post-market monitoring, and pre-registration testing of new drugs.

* **Import and Export Verification:** Testing consignments of drugs intended for import into or export from Pakistan to ensure they meet all required quality and safety standards.

* **Method Development:** Engaging in the development and validation of new analytical methods for drug testing to adapt to scientific advancements and evolving pharmaceutical landscapes.

* **Public Health Protection:** Playing a vital role in preventing the circulation of substandard, spurious, counterfeit, or misbranded drugs, thereby protecting consumers and maintaining public trust in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The CDL acts as an independent authority, pivotal for upholding drug standards and ensuring that only high-quality, safe, and effective medicines reach the Pakistani populace.

Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Pakistan manufactures and tests various pharmaceutical products, including:

* Vaccines

* Sera

* Diagnostic Reagents

* Biological Products

* Pharmaceutical Raw Materials

* Finished Pharmaceutical Products