Amidst stable growth in life sciences innovation in the Philippines, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recognizes the need to increase collaborative work with key partners to hurdle challenges and speed up the development of life-saving treatments and medical technologies.

In his opening remarks at the Asian Regional Conference in Support of Accelerated Life Sciences Innovation held in Mandaluyong City last Sept. 11-15, Senior Director at World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) IP for Innovators Department Alejandro Campaña said R&D and innovation outputs in life sciences in the Philippines “has been growing steadily.”

Since 2020, patent filings in the pharmaceutical sector have been increasing by over four percent annually, according to data from IPOPHL.

Campaña cited the Philippines' significant growth as a catalyst for other nations to adopt similar strategies, notably utilizing WIPO-developed tools and best practices.

Meanwhile, he emphasized the importance of global collaboration, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly shortened vaccine development and launch to one and a half years from 10-15 years of process.

WIPO's patent application data supports this claim, showing that nearly a quarter of patent applications list multiple inventors as patent holders.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba echoed Campaña’s statement, sharing how life science companies, together with government and medical and research institutes, “worked around the clock to develop life-saving medicine and devices that would bring immediate relief to our people threatened by COVID-19.”

For its part, IPOPHL collaborated with innovation partners from IPOPHL’s network of Innovation and Technology Support Offices across the Philippines to share technologies developed during COVID-19 shortages, offering alternative solutions to fill market gaps.

IPOPHL also provided 22 free COVID-19-related patent information reports to the pharma industry, academia, and public for further research and development of anti-COVID-19 treatments.

However, hurdles remain in the way.

IP Management and Technology Transfer Division Chief Adrian H. Sablan highlighted challenges in life sciences innovation, including lack of skilled workers, insufficient funding, regulatory tightness, lack of commercial expertise, and collaborations among innovation actors.

Following President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s directive to strengthen collaboration with WIPO and other key partners in the life sciences field, Deputy Director General Ann Claire C. Cabochan said IPOPHL “looks forward to working with everyone in applying solutions to our healthcare system for the ultimate benefit of our people.”

The conference was part of WIPO's efforts to promote tools developed through its COVID-19 Response Package.

WIPO's COVID-19 Response Package, launched in 2022, offers customized support, resources, and technical assistance to member states to address national priorities and challenges related to response, recovery, and future pandemic resilience.(Ma. Joselie C. Garcia)