up by the Minister of Health to address this and prepared the Ceylon Hospital Formulary of about 630 drugs under their generic names almost singlehandedly. Subsequently, the National Formulary Committee (NFC), consisting of representatives from the public and private health sectors and the University Medical Schools a formulary committee was set up with him as its first chairman. The NFC published Formulary Notes for the use of doctors, which later became The Prescriber. At the time, it was alleged and widely believed that Pharmaceutical companies in the country made considerable money by selling drugs under their trade names, giving out biased information about the branded drugs as against those named generically. The United Front Government of 1970 appointed Dr S.A. Wickremasinghe and Dr. Bibile to lead a commission of inquiry to investigate this issue and they recommended the establishment a national policy and of a state body to regularise the trade. Accordingly, in 1971 Hon. T.B. Subasinghe, the Cabinet Minister of Industries, appointed him founder chairman of the Sri Lanka State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC). The SPC channelled all imports of pharmaceuticals, calling for worldwide bulk tenders which were limited to the approved drugs listed in the national formulary. The public and private health sectors obtained all their requirements from the SPC. Hence the drug trade was regulated by this body and vendors were forced to compete with each other and with generic drug producers on a cost basis only. This program is generally perceived to have resulted in a cheaper drug supply for poor countries. This policy was supported by WHO and other UN agencies with enormous benefit to Third World countries. The UNCTAD Secretariat examined the Sri Lankan experience, concluding that an analysis of the Sri Lankan model could give other developing countries an insight into ways of formulating, developing and implementing integrated national pharmaceutical policies. With Bibile's assistance, it published "Case Studies in the Transfer of Technology: Pharmaceutical Policies in Sri Lanka". This document has proved to be a very valuable guideline for developing countries intending to initiate pharmaceutical reforms. Translated into other languages, it may be found with health planners of almost every Third World country. Although his policy was watered down by the United National Party Government of 1977, which re-opened the doors to unrestricted imports, the SPC was never dissolved and continued to supply affordable drugs. In 2005 the United People's Freedom Alliance Government promised