Life sciences innovation is critical to growth and socio-economic development as healthy people produce healthy economies. Efficient and effective delivery of patient focused products and services can improve a population's longevity, wellness, productivity and economic potential.
Established by APEC Leaders in 2002, the Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF) has since grown to become APEC's leading initiative on health and health sciences innovation.
It is a tripartite forum that engages representatives from the highest levels of government, industry and academia to create the right policy environment for life sciences innovation. The LSIF brings together scientific, health, trade, economic and financial considerations to address the challenges of infectious and chronic disease and ageing populations. Guiding principles include transparency, meaningful dialogue with stakeholders and recognition of due process. The LSIF forum also acknowledges that capacity building is critical to successful implementation.
In March 2011, the LSIF held its first joint meeting with the Health Working Group in Washington DC, the United States to explore possible cooperation areas. The second joint meeting with the HWG is scheduled to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia in June 2012.
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An APEC Life Sciences Strategic Plan was approved by APEC Ministers in 2004 and it includes recommendations for collective action and an implementation schedule. The Strategic Plan also provides recommendations for strengthening the innovative life sciences sector in the APEC region, placing particular emphasis on boosting region-wide levels of investment in research and development for health innovation.
In 2007 the LSIF was tasked to undertake a multidisciplinary study on the role of and returns to economies from investment in health innovations that address health and related economic and fiscal challenges facing the region. It was also mandated to establish frameworks for public-private sector partnerships to better utilise resources to meet health needs.
The LSIF has developed an Enablers of Investment Checklist, a voluntary guidance tool for policy makers in each APEC economy to assess their investment environment for life sciences innovation. Singapore volunteered to fill out the implementation of the Checklist in 2009.
The LSIF has developed an Anti-counterfeit Medical Product Action Plan. The objective is to share best practices in the detection and prevention of counterfeits to both regulatory authorities and industry professionals, and to build capacity at the economy level to combat the threat. A workshop on anti-counterfeit medicines was held in Beijing, China from September 27-28, 2011.
A series of regional seminars for government regulators on the issue of harmonisation of medical device regulation were organized by Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee (RHSC) since 2008. The objective was to help regulators of medical devices in APEC economies develop robust regulatory systems. The seminars highlighted the benefits to patients, regulators and industry and to global and regional trade when economies implement a medical device regulatory system based on harmonised standards and procedures. Industry representatives were invited to participate. The training programs were closely coordinated with the medical devices Global Harmonisation Task Force and two regional working parties: The Asian Harmonisation Working Party and the Latin American Harmonisation Working Party.
The APEC Harmonization Center (AHC) was launched in Seoul, Korea in June 2009. The AHC is an important step towards harmonising regional regulatory priorities. An LSIF Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee (RHSC) has also been created to advance the harmonisation agenda. The AHC has since organised a series of events, including an "APEC Harmonization Center Biosimilar Workshop" in 2009. The workshop was focused on the opportunities and challenges of biological medicines, regulatory issues for biosimilars and the regulatory landscape for biosimilars. A follow up workshop on Biosimilar is scheduled to be held in April 2012. .
The LSIF Plenary meeting was held in September 2011 in San Francisco, the United States. The meeting took place at the margins of the third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.
Co-hosted by the LSIF and the APEC Health Working Group, the APEC Health Systems Innovation Dialogue was held on 16-17 September. APEC health ministers – including Brunei; Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; Philippines; and Chinese Taipei – and other high-level officials met at this two day dialogue. APEC’s leading academics and health industry CEOs also convened to build relationships and to make chronic disease prevention a global priority.
Participants discussed the importance of innovation, multi-sectoral collaboration, and public-private sector partnerships to develop and implement an APEC Action Plan to Reduce the Economic Burden of Non-Communicable Disease. The Action Plan requires APEC economies to:
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Adopt approaches to policy development that involve all government agencies and health stakeholders;
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Establish public-private partnerships focused on leveraging innovations to strengthen health systems to meet the chronic disease challenge; and
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Share best practices and track outcomes on chronic disease prevention, detection, and control activities.
Speaking at the dialogue, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius summarized the forum’s support for innovative and collaborative responses to mounting chronic disease challenges in this report.
The LSIF also endorsed a United States and China proposal to implement a two day workshop on Drug Safety and Detection Technology that was held in Beijing, China on 27-28 September, 2011.
This workshop built upon previous APEC seminars to promote safe medicines, which have focused on cooperation and strategies to combat falsified/counterfeit medicines and to promote quality of medicines.
The workshop provided a platform for participating economies to share information and contribute to a publication on the appropriate use of detection and prevention technologies for drug safety and quality by APEC economies. The discussions further supported the implementation of LSIF Anti-Counterfeit Action Plan.
An LSIF workshop on “Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) Prevent and Control Through Public Policy and Best Practices” is scheduled to be held in the Philippines in May 2012. It aims to build and strengthen regulatory cooperation and capacity to address HAIs in economies, with the end goal of reducing its economic burden on healthcare systems and economies in the region.
Another LSIF workshop on “Marine Microorganisms: Capacity Building for a Broader Cooperative Research and Utilization” is planned to take place in Vladivostok, Russia in June 2012. It seeks to address the opportunity to promote broader cooperative research and partnerships within APEC to better understand interrelations between the ocean and life science and its innovative potential for health and other industries.
Barbara NORTON (Ms)
LSIF Planning Group Chair
Director, Industry
Office of United States Trade Representative (USTR)
600 17th Street NW
Washington DC 20508
Tel: +1 202 395 6160
Fax: +1 202 395 9674
Email:
Steve CHEN (Mr)
Program Director
APEC Secretariat
Email: