The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has launched 12 Indian Pharmacopoeia reference standards aimed at strengthening the quality, standardisation and regulatory evaluation of phytopharmaceuticals in India.

The standards were launched during a Scientific Conclave and Interactive Session on “Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) 2026: Advancing Quality, Safety, and Innovation in Drugs, Food and Phytopharmaceuticals”, organised at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Guwahati on August 27.

The interactive session, organised for the first time in the Northeast region, brought together experts and stakeholders from regulatory authorities, academia and scientific institutions to discuss the development of robust quality standards for phytopharmaceuticals.

A key highlight of the event was the first-ever introduction by IPC of seven Indian Pharmacopoeia Phytochemical Reference Standards (IPPRS) and five Indian Pharmacopoeia Botanical Reference Standards (IPBRS).

The seven phytochemical reference standards are Andrographolide, Capsaicin, Embelin, Eugenol, Marmelosin/Imperatorin, Scopoletin and Umbelliferone. The five botanical reference standards cover Terminalia arjuna, Bacopa monnieri, Tinospora cordifolia, Centella asiatica and Ocimum sanctum.

Phytopharmaceuticals represent an intersection of traditional medicinal knowledge and modern scientific approaches, with the potential to support the development of safe, effective and standardised plant-based medicines.

The newly introduced reference standards are expected to strengthen evidence-based development, quality control and therapeutic evaluation of phytopharmaceutical products. They are also intended to provide a stronger scientific and regulatory foundation for plant-derived medicinal products.

The standards were launched by Prof. Ashok Puranik, Executive Director, AIIMS-Guwahati, who also addressed the gathering. He described the initiative as a significant step towards strengthening the quality, safety and scientific validation of herbal and plant-based medicinal products.

In his inaugural address, Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission emphasised that collaboration between scientific institutions and regulatory bodies would be critical to advancing scientific standardisation and promoting quality-assured plant-based medicinal products.