Dear Sir or Madam,
The Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF), a non-profit organization supported by Merck KGaA, has expanded its Minilab method inventory for 2025. Six additional medicines (diphenhydramine, hyoscine, loperamide, loratadine, norfloxacin, and tinidazole) have been added to improve market surveillance.
Facing the proliferation of counterfeit medicines, the uptake of technologies to screen and detect substandard and falsified medical products remains crucial. The GPHF-Minilab is a portable mini-laboratory designed to detect substandard and falsified medicines in regions with limited analytical resources. The updated inventory now covers 125 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and includes an excipient test to identify antifreeze agents as toxic contaminants in children's syrups.
The GPHF-Minilab's method inventory also includes simple quality testing of antibacterial, antimalarial, antiviral, anti-TB, antidiabetic, cardiovascular and some other medicines. The updated inventory integrates seamlessly into the existing Minilab kit, requiring only an expanded collection of reference agents.
The GPHF-Minilab supports national quality control laboratories in detecting falsified and unsafe medicines, which is crucial for protecting public health and maintaining trust in healthcare systems. The new test methods are available for free download in English, French, and Spanish here.
The GPHF emphasizes the importance of access to safe and effective quality medicines and continues to work on updating the Minilab manual.
| Kind regards, Richard Jähnke, PhD Project Management |
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