You’ve asked when the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) was first established. The ICH began in 1990 as an initiative between regulatory authorities in Europe, Japan, and the United States, along with experts from the pharmaceutical industry, to discuss scientific and technical aspects of drug registration.
The goal was to make recommendations on ways to achieve greater harmonization in the interpretation and application of technical guidelines and requirements for pharmaceutical product registration. This allows manufacturers to be more efficient in the use of human, animal, and material resources while eliminating unnecessary delays in the global development and availability of new medicines.