The Industrial Pharmacy Section of the 2007 FIP Congress focuses on the crucial need for pharmacists to assume responsibility for the delivery of safe and effective medicine along every point of the medicines supply chain. Pharmacists should insist on involvement in all processes, from manufacture to delivery. Focus should be on the areas in which pharmacists are the primary healthcare provider, namely at the point of dispensing, to ensure accurate and ethical information is conveyed to the patient. The pharmacist is the last point of defence against misinformation and counterfeit medical products, and should be well equipped and willing to take appropriate measures to protect patients.

All stakeholders in the drug distribution channel - from the pharmaceutical industry to the pharmacy counter- have a joint responsibility to ensure quality throughout the life cycle of a drug. Pharmacists need to be aware of risks pertaining to improper information and dispensing and the threat such practices pose to patient safety. Pharmacists must also understand the financial and rational consequences to both patients and industry of poor adherence and wrong usage of medicines. Topics go beyond manufacture and distribution to include a session on pharmaceuticals and the environment, examining risk factors of environmental pollution caused by medicines. Some of the most recent advances in nanotechnology will also be shared to foster an appreciation of the challenges of developing medicinal nanotechnology and its application in an industrial setting. FIP is also pleased to welcome industrial pharmacists and scientists to give short oral contributions on manufacturing/GMP and drug delivery techniques or processes.

Limiting the spread of substances that do not occur naturally in the environment is central to its protection. Environmental activities must, therefore, concentrate on investigating and revealing their properties and on ensuring that they have minimal impact on the environment and that their use and disposal take place in a manner that, as far as possible, prevents them from spreading.

Pharmaceuticals contain chemical substances and are, therefore, an important area to take into account in the endeavour to achieve a non-toxic environment. Having knowledge and the ability to manipulate environmental effects are essential when drugs are developed, and contributes to safe and proper utilisation. Environmental issues should never become a reason to refrain from pharmacological treatment choices.

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HOW TO GUARANTEE THE BEST THERAPEUTIC OUTCOME OF A PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT – THE INFLUENCE OF A LIFE CYCLE