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PReMA Office and Board Leadership team.
Q&A with PReMA Focus areas and responses to Covid-19 Dr. Armin Wiesler and Dr. Thavirap Tantiwongse In this article, Dr. Armin Wiesler, Vice-President of PReMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association) and General Manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Thailand, and Dr. Thavirap Tantiwongse, CEO of PReMA, outline the strategic focus areas of PReMA, how pharmaceutical companies are dealing with Covid-19 and what could come next for the health-care sector in Thailand.
What are the key focus areas of PReMA? PReMA, a non-profit organization, has represented the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Thailand for 50 years. Currently, we have 32 member companies and four associate members. Our strategy focuses on three pillars: innovation, access and care. We aim to educate on the value of true medical innovation that brings meaningful benefits to patients and health-care providers. In this context, we outline the important guardrails to foster innovation, such as the protection of intellectual property. Another key pillar is increasing access by Thai patients to new medications and vaccines. For this, PReMA collaborates with other health-care stakeholders, such as university hospitals, to develop potential improvement opportunities. The key pillar, care, underlines the fact that patients need to be the centre
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of the health-care system; patients should be aware of, and involved in health-care decisions. The PReMA member companies support more than 50,000 jobs across the Thai economy, mostly highly-skilled employees. We are collaborating with other stakeholders in the health-care area, such as hospitals, scientific exper ts, academia and the Thai government. The joint objective is to strengthen the role of Thailand as the centre for innovation and leading medical hub in the region, driven by strong medical tourism and excellence in running clinical trials.
How does PReMA suppor t the innovation ecosystem in Thailand? In alignment with our innovation pillar, we have started a number of initiatives to educate on what medical innovation really means and what value it has. We initiated this approach with a dinner dialogue in November 2019, in which government agencies, the private sector and academics joined to discuss how to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Thailand. In this context, PReMA has launched a blog called Crack the Mindset, which seeks to create a wide-ranging debate on the value of innovation. We started the blog with posts that conveyed basic knowledge on innovation
and the value of innovative medicines. After several posts, we gained positive traction from health-care personnel, particularly young millennials who are highly engaged with our blog. To amplify our gravitas, trust and to reach to target audiences, we have organised a webinar series in collaboration with TCELS (Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences; founded in 2004 by the Government of Thailand), titled “The Evolution in Healthcare: Digital Transformation in Thailand Post-Covid-19�. The series has been received positively, and panelists from public and private organizations joined us on Crack the Mindset.
Covid-19 has profoundly affected all sectors of health care, and the pharmaceutical industry is certainly no exception. How has the industry responded to Covid-19? Our admiration goes out to all doctors, nurses and public health personnel who have worked tirelessly to control Covid-19 and who have made Thailand one of the best countries in limiting the coronavirus impact. PReMA member companies have taken comprehensive safety measures, such as
