In a new step to contribute to ensuring the quality of medicines and biological products around the world, the Egyptian Drug Authority officially joins the General European Official Medicines Control Laboratories Network.

The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) has officially announced its associate membership in the General European Official Medicines Control Laboratories Network (GEON), coordinated by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM). This is a progressive step for the EDA to become one of the first leading regulatory bodies in the Arab world and Africa to receive this international recognition.

This comes after the Egyptian Drug Authority successfully passed a rigorous joint technical evaluation conducted by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) during a field visit to the Authority's biological product laboratories from February 17 to 19, 2025. This achievement is considered an international commendation of the EDA's quality and institutional efficiency. Dr. Tamer El-Husseiny, Vice Chairman of the Authority, Dr. Asmaa Fouad, Head of the Central Administration for Biological and Innovative Products and Clinical Studies, and Dr. Dalia Abu Hussein, Director General of the General Administration of Quality Assurance, welcomed them.

For his part, Dr. Ali El-Ghamrawy, Chairman of the Egyptian Drug Authority, expressed his happiness with this new achievement, stating that it is a culmination of Egypt's and the Egyptian Drug Authority's efforts to consolidate its position as a regional scientific and regulatory reference. He added that it enhances its ability to effectively contribute to international regulatory initiatives, reflects the Egyptian Drug Authority's commitment to the highest quality and effectiveness standards for Egyptian products, and strengthens the confidence of international partners in the efficiency of the Authority's regulatory system. He also noted that it is an important achievement added to the record of accomplishments that qualify it to become one of the distinguished authorities on the World Health Organization's list.

This accession also represents an important step in enhancing international cooperation in the field of drug quality control. Egyptian laboratories will benefit from the exchange of experiences, training opportunities, and access to collaborative testing studies, while contributing to the network's mission to ensure the quality of medicines available on the market.

In this context, Dr. Petra Doerr, Director of the EDQM, stated: "We are pleased to welcome the Egyptian Drug Authority's biological laboratories to the GEON network. This new accession reflects our commitment to enhancing international cooperation and standardizing norms in the field of drug quality control within and outside Europe. Egypt became an observer in the European Pharmacopoeia Commission in 2023, and we warmly welcome this new phase of joint cooperation."

It is worth noting that the network currently includes 69 laboratories from 43 countries among its members, and this continuous growth reflects the increasing importance of international cooperation in ensuring the quality and safety of medicines worldwide.