The Drug Sector at The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) along with the corporation program of the International Bank hosted Dr. Thomas Lailouf, the expert of drug laboratories and former director of laboratories at the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), from the 2nd of February 2008 up to the 7th of February 2008 for the purpose of estimating the current status of laboratories concerning the analysis of pharmaceutical products, establishing the visions and appropriate proposition to develop the pharmaceutical products.

During the visit, few topics have been discussed including the current status of pharmaceutical laboratories which linked to the sector’s job prescription. Dr. Lailouf visited important laboratories in Riyadh including:

• The Drug and Food Central Laboratory at the Ministry of Health.
• The Quality Observation Central Laboratory in Riyadh.
• The Department of Clinical and Biological Research at King Faisal Specialized Hospital and Research Center.
• IDAC laboratories.

Dr. Lailouf has met Prof. Bawazir, The Vice President for Drug Affairs, department heads of the drug sector and members of drug laboratories committee whom participated in the discussion on the ways of developing the current status and setup a vision about the central laboratory for drug analysis.