2nd Meeting: Working Group on International Reference Materials for Diagnosis and Study of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs)

Overview

The Second Meeting of the WHO Working Group on International Reference Materials for Diagnosis and Study of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (WHO TSE Working Group) was held at WHO in Geneva on 25-26 May 2000. The meeting was opened by Dr Yasuhiro Suzuki, Executive Director of the Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals Cluster, WHO. Dr Suzuki emphasized the importance of establishing a WHO Repository of internationally agreed-upon reference materials to facilitate development of methods for diagnosis and better understanding of the TSE diseases, as well as for the validation of the ability of pharmaceutical procedures to remove the agents. The establishment of the reference materials would also be essential for regulatory decisions in the pharmaceutical and biologicals field.