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 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 experts, 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 support 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

Dr. Armin Wiesler at the Innovation Dinner Dialogue

defining guardrails for customer interactions. Moreover, our members have ensured a hyper-focus on supply chain systems to ensure that patients can get the medications they need. Although the closure of countries has had an impact on transportation systems globally, the pharmaceutical industry has maintained its ability to deliver medicines to patients without interruption.

In addition, we have all learned from this crisis – not only for today, but also for the future. Amid this crisis, we are able to interact with our customers, although not in the traditional way. We have refined and applied new techniques, such as conducting remote seminars and arranging virtual conferences. We are open-minded towards these changes and are adopting new technologies to engage with our customers. We have learned many things during the crisis. Challenges make us stronger and make us grow. Our industry will apply these learnings for the years to come.

Where does the health-care sector in Thailand stand today? What factors will lead to the road of recovery?

Many sectors have been hit very hard in Thailand, e.g., the tourism and hospitality sector. The health-care sector has also been negatively impacted, but to varying degrees. We see a stronger contraction in the private health-care sector, driven by the lack of medical tourism, while the impact on the public health-care sector has been less.

All of us have read about the significant progress in developing safe and effective vaccines to protect against Covid-19, thereby outlining the importance of innovation and collaboration globally. We also see the high value of collaboration when looking at Thailand specifically. The Thai Ministry of Public Health, AstraZeneca, Siam Bioscience and SCG recently announced their intent to manufacture the University of Oxford’s potential Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand.

The current situation shows the strengths of Thailand’s health-care system. This provides a strong basis for Thailand to further enhance its role as a leading medical hub in the region in the mid-term, and to revitalize the strong role of medical tourism for the health-care sector and overall economy. For the pharmaceutical industry, innovation and collaboration remain the key — delivering innovation that addresses unmet medical needs and improves the lives of patients, investing in clinical trials for the innovation of tomorrow, and collaborating with the different stakeholders in the public and private sectors to support access of patients to innovation.

PReMA Crack the Mindset webinar series with TCELS – ‘Healthcare at speed: What’s next for Thailand’. From left: Asst. Prof. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, Dr. Thavirap Tantiwongse, Prof. Piyamit Sritara and Dr. Nares Damrongchai.

Contact details: Dr. Armin Wiesler Vice-President of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PReMA) and General Manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Thailand http://www.prema.or.th / Dr. Thavirap Tantiwongse MB BChir (Cantab) CEO of PReMA http://www.prema.or.th