The APEC Life Sciences Strategic Plan includes Recommendations for Collective Action Going Forward and an implementation schedule for members to implement the Strategic Plan. The implementation of this Strategic Plan will provide a model for a global approach to life sciences innovation.
The Fifth Life Sciences Innovation Forum was held on 19-20 April 2007 in Adelaide, Australia. The main theme for this year's forum was the need to develop an integrated approach to health system resource allocation to address the key challenges of infectious and chronic diseases and ageing populations. Recommendations to Ministers included:
Undertaking 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;
Establishing frameworks for public-private sector partnerships to better utilize resources from the public and private sector to meet health needs.
According priority to addressing the impact of non-health policies on the development and update of effective innovation and on health costs, including taxes, tariffs and non-tariff barriers;
Encouraging member economies to establish a mechanism for coordinating their health and investment strategies across government and with stakeholders;
Encouraging continued Dialogue between LSIF and APEC health and finance senior officials to discuss responses to the health dimensions of economic challenges and more systematic cooperation across economies to address shared challenges, experiences and expertise; and
Conducting assessments of economies' scientific and regulatory capacities with a view to identifying gaps and recommending programs to address shortfalls.
The LSIF also prepared a status report on implementation of the Strategic Plan for submission to Ministers and Leaders in September 2007. The report covers the outcomes in regards of Support for the Multilateral Trading System, Trade Facilitation, Digital Economy and Strengthening IPR, and Transparency.
2008
The first APEC Anti-counterfeiting Health Products Seminar was held in Singapore was held on January 13-15, 2008. Over 120 experts from 17 APEC economies, including 11 developing economies met to examine ways to combat the skyrocketing increase in counterfeit medical products in the region and around the world. This seminar provided regulatory authorities and industry professionals with best practices in the detection and prevention of counterfeits. Participants are expected to take these tools back to their local economies to perform additional training exercises, building capacity in the region to combat this emerging threat. Also resulting from the seminar is a draft action plan for combating counterfeit medical products which will be developed for consideration at the second of the two-part series of seminars in March. Another two-part seminar series is planned for the Latin America region of which the first will take place in Mexico.
The proposed Regional Seminars for Government Regulators: Harmonization of Medical Device Regulation will take place first in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 4-7, 2008 with a follow-up later this year in a member economy of Latin America. These Seminars are mainly planned for government regulators of medical devices in APEC economies with developing medical device regulatory systems. They will address the benefits to patients, regulators, industry, the regions, and to global and regional trade when each economy implements a medical device regulatory system based on harmonized standards and procedures. Industry representatives will also be invited to participate. The training programs will be coordinated closely with the medical devices Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF) and two regional working parties: The Asian Harmonization Working Party (AHWP) and the Latin American Harmonization Working Party (LAHWP).
A workshop, Review of Drug Development in Clinical Trials, is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand on March 17-21. The workshop aims to strengthen Drug Regulatory Authorities' capacity to discuss and share experiences on controls of clinical trials so that regulatory practices may be harmonized.
