Updating public standards to meet new threats brought on by globalization is a top area for FDA and USP collaboration, says FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg. The distribution of adulterated heparin that proved lethal several years ago is but one reason why. Hamburg describes three collaboration initiatives: joint assessment of physical reference standards, information exchanges on hand-held device applications that screen drugs for adulteration or contamination, and FDA assistance to USP in modernizing monographs to better assess and characterize drug ingredients and products. Release