The government launched the 7th National Formulary of India (NFI 2026) on September 21 alongside a new Biovigilance Programme, with Minister of State Anupriya Patel presenting updated guidance on 653 medicines.
Pairing a reference document with a monitoring programme is a deliberate combination. The NFI standardises what information is available about medicines, while the Biovigilance Programme is built to catch problems with medicines and biological products after they are in use.
That split, between standardising known information and monitoring for new problems, mirrors how most mature medicine-safety systems work: a formulary alone cannot catch a rare adverse event, and a monitoring programme alone cannot ensure prescribers are working from consistent information.
Extending biovigilance specifically to organ and tissue transplantation is also notable, since transplantation involves biological products, donor and recipient safety, and follow-up tracking that differ meaningfully from monitoring a standard drug.
For a country the size of India, launching the update digitally through NFI Online, rather than relying only on a printed reference, is also a practical acknowledgment that keeping such information current matters as much as the initial publication.
It is designed to assist doctors, pharmacists, healthcare professionals, teachers and students in the appropriate use of medicines.
The 7th edition has been made available digitally through NFI Online.
The digital version links to information on National Health Programmes, immunisation schedules and Jan Aushadhi.
It also includes guidance on the safe disposal of unused or expired pharmaceutical products.
Alongside the NFI launch, the government approved a new Biovigilance Programme of India.
Under the Biovigilance Programme, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission will strengthen reporting, assessment, monitoring and prevention of adverse events linked to medicines and biological products.
The Biovigilance Programme also covers products used in organ and tissue transplantation, including those administered to donors and recipients.
The initiative is intended to widen India’s overall patient-safety net.
Pharmacy in India (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0