Bangkok--Jul 13--Aziam Burson-Marsteller
TCELS' Pharmacogenomics Project Will Offer Thai People the Benefits of Safer and More Effective Medications Plus Reduced Healthcare Costs
The Thai Government has launched the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS) Pharmacogenomics Project, in collaboration with Oracle Thailand, to gather and unify health records electronically.
Pharmacogenomics defines how a person's genetics affects his or her body's response to medications. It is the basis for individualized medicine, through which drugs are tailored and applied to cater to a person's personal genetic makeup. The TCELS Pharmacogenomics Project involves the development of a large-scale database of unified electronic health records based on Oracle technologies. This project will benefit Thai people through safer and more effective medications as well as reduced healthcare costs. This will position Thailand as a global leader in the development of its Life Sciences industry.
"This ground-breaking initiative will have far-reaching impact on Thailand's healthcare system," said Mr. Suvit Khunkitti, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology. "It's clear that economies and nations that can ride the wave of Life Sciences and biomedical innovation will grow and prosper, while those that fall behind could miss out on the world's next industrial revolution and experience a decline in growth rates, incomes and power."
"For Asia Pacific economies to move forward with shared and sustainable economic prosperity, it is critical that countries including Thailand, in partnership with the private sector, put in place policies and innovative infrastructures to address public health threats such as SARS and AIDS. Bold and decisive steps towards partnership building between public and private institutions as well as across national borders will secure an improved quality of life for all our citizens," said Mr., Suvit.
Mr. Suvit added that APEC leaders have agreed to support and implement the strategies of the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum as part of an effort to accelerate structural reform in the APEC region and enhance knowledge-based economies.
TCELS and Oracle first signed an MOU for the Pharmacogenomics Project in January 2005. It involves developing a nationwide system to capture clinical and genetic patient information that can be used to define a correlation to a benchmark of information about the general population.
This also allows for the classification of the patients by genostrata.
Based on proven and well-respected technologies provided by Oracle, the
TCELS Pharmacogenomics Project infrastructure will be developed in
collaboration with selected partners from around the region to ensure it meets all the requirements of Thai clinical researchers.
"The TCELS Pharmacogenomics Project, which will catapult Thailand's
healthcare industry into the future, is the springboard for reaching the goal of offering the benefits of individualized medicine to Thai people," said Dr. Pornchai Matangkasombat, Chairman of the Board for TCELS.
"Currently, healthcare management is largely retrospective ? a medication
is prescribed for an illness without a personal profile of the individual.
This makes healthcare management largely superficial, impersonal and prone to errors.
"In the new paradigm of healthcare management, based on the pharmacogenomics concept, such errors will be reduced and healthcare management will be proactive and predictive. The use of a unified electronic health record will result in information being generated from detailed, personalized profiles. This individualized medicine will help Thai people to stay healthy for a long time by ensuring the most appropriate use of medications and therapies," he said.
According to Dr. Thongchai Tavichachart, CEO of TCELS, "Our organization is at the forefront of modern healthcare with the Pharmacogenomics Project. Our long-term objective is to identify and enhance competitive advantages for the Thai Life Sciences industry and generate wealth and knowledge for Thailand. During its first five years, the TCELS project will operate through five pillars including research, education, commercialization, technology infrastructure and international
outreach."
Dr. Thongchai added that biotechnology products and services will be one of Thailand's key future industries with an ultimate impact on the national wealth. TCELS' key strategy is to establish a world-class industrial complex that will act as a strong base for manufacturing and commercialization of medical biotechnology products and services.
"Oracle is pleased that we can take part in such an important project for the people of Thailand," said Natasak Rodjanapiches, managing director of Oracle Thailand. "Oracle is a long-time pioneer in the Healthcare/Life Sciences Industry and continues to revolutionize technology advances.
Customers are looking for a platform that will handle large amounts of data produced by hospitals, research and other clinical activities in Thailand,
coupled with Oracle's considerable global expertise in healthcare and life sciences solutions, this strategic relationship with the Thai government is the first step towards delivering individualized medicine to everybody in the Kingdom."
Pharmacogenomics will also ensure that healthcare management is more cost-effective and will reduce healthcare spending over an individual's lifetime.
Keeping electronic health records is also an effective monitoring tool to curb outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and avian influenza, more popularly known as bird flu. These outbreaks can have a devastating effect on the economy and the livelihood of Thais. The availability of a tool to capture the spread of such diseases in a timely manner will help to control outbreaks, especially at a national level.
Pharmacogenomics is a major leap forward for healthcare. At the clinical trial level, it involves information sharing, investigator and patient management and terminology translation. At the healthcare level, it involves bio-medical surveillance, determining clinical pathways for standardized patient care and gathering patient and physician information into a centralized database.
"The TCELS Pharmacogenomics Project is an example of a potentially fruitful joint collaboration between the Thai government and private sector. It will be seen as a landmark initiative in the region in the years to come and serves as a good opening chapter for future collaboration while improving the quality of life for Thai people," concluded Natasak.
About TCELS
The Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS) was established in June 2004 under a Royal Decree by the King of Thailand. It was set up following the formation of a strategic, innovation-based public-private partnership between the US-ASEAN Business Council and Royal Thai Government. TCELS' vision is to become a world-class research and investment center for Life Sciences to benefit Thai citizens and the region.
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