WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization: seventy-eighth report

Overview

The seventy-eighth meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization was held from 16 to 19 October 2023 as a hybrid meeting, with Committee members attending in person at WHO headquarters in Geneva and others participants attending virtually. Dr Yukiko Nakatani, Assistant DirectorGeneral, Access to Medicines and Health Products, welcomed all participants and thanked them for devoting their time and expertise to the work of the Committee. Noting that the frequency of Committee meetings had increased to meet increasing demands for new and replacement standards for biological products, including products used during public health emergencies, Dr Nakatani remarked that this 78th meeting of the Committee was taking place in the same year that WHO celebrated its 75th anniversary. Dr Nakatani also highlighted the 57th meeting of the Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations, which had met in the previous week, and the 77th consultation on International Nonproprietary Names, which was taking place at the same time as the current meeting.