The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) has the mission of achieving greater regulatory harmonization worldwide to ensure that safe, effective, and high-quality medicines are developed, registered, and maintained in the most resource-efficient manner. By harmonizing the regulatory expectations in regions around the world, ICH guidelines have substantially reduced duplicative clinical studies, prevented unnecessary animal studies, standardized safety reporting and marketing application submissions, and contributed to many other improvements in the quality of global drug development and manufacturing and the products available to patients.

ICH is a consensus-driven process that involves technical experts from regulatory authorities and industry parties in detailed technical and science-based harmonization work that results in the development of ICH guidelines. The commitment to consistent adoption of these consensus-based guidelines by regulators around the globe is critical to realizing the benefits of safe, effective, and high-quality medicines for patients as well as for industry. As a Founding Regulatory Member of ICH, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a major role in the development of each of the ICH guidelines, which FDA then adopts and issues as guidance to industry.