A look at the ASEAN-NDI: building a regional health R&D innovation network

Abstract

Globally, there are growing efforts to address diseases through the advancement in health research and development (R&D), strengthening of regional cooperation in science and technology (particularly on product discovery and development), and implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution 61.21 (WHA61.21) on the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property (GSPA-PHI). As such, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is responding to this through the establishment of the ASEAN-Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Traditional Medicines Innovation (ASEAN-NDI). This is important in the ASEAN considering that infectious tropical diseases remain prevalent, emerging, and reemerging in the region. This paper looks into the evolution of the ASEAN-NDI from its inception in 2009, to how it is at present, and its plans to mitigate public health problems regionally and even globally.

Keywords: ASEAN-NDI; Health research and development; Infectious tropical diseases; Innovation network; Strategic business plan.

Figure 1

First stage of the establishment of the ASEAN-NDI. Following the establishment of the ANDI, interest to establish a similar health R&D innovation network, the ASEAN-NDI, was communicated by the Philippines to the WHO-TDR through PCHRD-DOST. With funding support from the WHO-TDR, the activities of the Network were started, including the ASEAN health R&D landscape mapping.

Figure 2

Academic and academy-associated dengue research centers located in the ASEAN.

Figure 3

Number of Clinical Trials conducted per country in Southeast Asia. Countries in the ASEAN region have been recently identified as an emerging potential in the field of clinical trials. In order to assess the focus of current clinical trials in the region, absolute numbers of clinical trials were obtained from the Clinicaltrials.gov database (as of July 2010). It was found that most clinical trials reported are focused on maladies and conditions such as neoplasms and cancers [9].

Figure 4

Networks for diagnostics research collaborations among the top 50 most productive institutions (within and outside the ASEAN) based on articles on diagnostics. Size of the nodes indicates relative number of articles. Thicker links indicate more instances of collaboration between the two institutions. Blue nodes are institutions in the ASEAN, while orange nodes represent institutions outside the ASEAN. Thai, Singaporean, and Malaysian universities and research centers have most of the collaborations on publications on diagnostics compared with the other ASEAN countries. Most of the collaborations are with the ASEAN member states but there are some collaborations with research centers in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Switzerland [11].

Figure 5

Network for vaccine research collaborations among the top 50 most productive institutions (within and outside the ASEAN) based on articles on vaccines. Thai, Malaysian, and Singapore-based research centers dominate the scene with their networks in vaccine development. The collaborations are not only within the ASEAN but also with other countries such as the USA, Australia, Belgium, Austria, France, South Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, and Switzerland. GSK Belgium was a dominant collaborating partner in the ASEAN with respect to vaccine-related articles [11].

Figure 6

The ASEAN-NDI value chain. The ASEAN-NDI shall follow this R&D and Delivery Value Chain Structure. Patterned from the ANDI Value Chain and the Porter-Teisberg Value Chain Analysis, each activity is dependent upon the preceding activity, with each subsequent activity in the chain adding more “value” to the product intermediates. Significantly, the total final value of the end product(s) of such a chain of activities is greater than the sum of the independent activities’ values.

Figure 7

The Hub-and-Spokes model for the ASEAN-NDI. The hub and spokes model for the ASEAN-NDI allows for a variety of national R&D practices to be integrated or connected in the Network, ranging from high level of state participation, and various forms of public-private partnerships. This is in line with the differing political, economic, and sociocultural environments for cooperation in R&D. The permanent Secretariat is located in the Philippines as per the endorsement by the ASEAN S&T Ministers in their 15^th meeting in Malaysia, held on 13 November 2013 [15].