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All the Oman Football Association (OFA) members and board of directors, with the exception of two, have submitted their resignation to the Minister of Sports Affairs, Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi on the 26/12/2006. Two members, who were not present at the board meeting, ar

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

e yet to submit their resignation.

The resignation of the OFA members comes in the wake of the below par performances of our national soccer teams in its different age categories. The resignation was called upon by the general public and some 17 regional clubs. As a re

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ult, an extraordinary general meeting was held on 18-12-2006.

To me it looks like the members of the Omani Football Association were fearful of the extraordinary general assembly and the possible resulting embarrassment, hence have opted to resign instead of being sack

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

ed.

There are a few questions, however, in and around this OFA resignation mainly, is it the right timing for such an action to be called upon ? What will be the impact of the resignation on our participation in the Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi ? Who will be the new chairman

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

f the OFA ? Was H.E. Ali Al Sunaidi correct in scheduling an extraordinary meeting in this particular period ? What is the real motive behind this group resignation ?

Only a few days after writing an article about the responsibilities of different entities towards the

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

verall well being of football in Oman (refer to Analysis of the Omani Domestic

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

Soccer League), where I have made clear that the Omani Football Association has been the main culprit in victimizing soccer in Oman, we were stunned by the news of this group resignation by the board members of the OFA. Although it has been called upon for

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

quite a long time by the general public, the timing of the resignation is somewhat awkward and could cause further debacle to the already underperforming soccer national team.

Resignation reasons that we have been told

More than 17 clubs and the gener

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

l public have been asking for such a resignation due to the recent performance of the OFA.

Hidden motives

In my opinion, the board members were fearful of being sacked as a result of the extraordinary general meeting and hence have opted to resign. Th

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ey are aware that they have taken football in Oman back to the dark days with their miss planning and disorganization and, knowing that they only seek easy solutions, perhaps discovered that there isn't an easy way back.

Impact of the resignation on out nationa

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

soccer team

No matter how much we like to deny it, surely there will be some impact, albeit minimal, on our participation in the Gulf Cup which will be held in Abu Dhabi on the 17th of January of 2006. This resignation has solved the disorganization with an e

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

en bigger disorganization.

New Omani Football Association chairman ?

I, like many others believe that H.H Shihab bin Tariq Al Saeed, current president of Al Seeb club, is the most appropriate and if it does not materialize for one reason or another th

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

en it is suggested that the job be assigned to someone who has some football background.

Opinion

Firstly, I believe that H.E Ali Al Sunaidi got the timing of the general meeting wrong given that the Gulf Cup is only 3 weeks away. In my opinion, he sho

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

ld have waited until the conclusion of the Gulf Cup before taking any action to spare the soccer team and us this debacle, especially that there are around 5 months between the latter cup and the Asian Cup 2007 that would have proved more than enough for this reformatio

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

.

Secondly, I believe that the defunct members of the OFA board realized that they will be under more fire had they waited until the conclusion of the Gulf Cup, perhaps anticipating another below par performance from the football team.

Thirdly, I hope this situation d

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

oes not get milked by the new OFA members should the national soccer team fail to live up to the nation's expectations in the Gulf Cup, 2007.

Last but not least, I deeply hope that the same mistakes are not repeated when selecting the new members of the OFA. The associ

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

tion needs fresh blood, ones that are knowledgeable in football. Ones that question and critique our national head coach, especially when the national team prepares for future tournaments by playing friendly matches against third and fourth division Czech clubs while ot

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

er countries like UAE, Qatar and Kuwait play the likes of Brazil and Portugal.

Omani Football Association members that have tendered their resignation

The following is the list of the now ex-members of the OFA:

Shaikh Khalil Al Khalili (Chair

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

man)

Abdullah Shaaban Al Farsi (Vice-chairman)

Abdullah bin Mohammed Bamakhalef (General secretary)

Jamil Ali Sultan (Treasurer)

Ali bin Mubarak Al Hosni (Board member)

Nasser bin

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

amdan Al Riyami (Board member)

Mohamed bin Saleh Alawi Shihab (Board member)

Talal Al Amri (Board member)

Two members were absent from the meeting and they are:

Fahad Al Darri

Salim Al Abri

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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