Pharmaceutical News
Breakthrough in cross-strait cooperation in clinical trials
2014/09/09

Wu Mei-Hung, the Deputy Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, led a delegation of government officials to visit China.  The cross-strait cooperation in health related affairs was on the agenda.  Ms Wu revealed that specific consensuses on cooperative clinical trials have been reached.  

In the press conference held on the 4th, Wu Mei-Hung reported her recent visit to China and the results of the negotiation on health related issues.  Since the Cross-strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health was signed three years ago, there have been progresses in the cooperation in the prevention and reporting of contagious diseases; but, the advances in the cooperation in drug R&D has been slow. 

Wu Mei-Hung and Hsu Ming-Nung, the Deputy Minister of the MOHW, led the delegation of government officials to visit China and had an in-depth discussion of cooperation in drug R&D with the health authorities in China.

Wu said certain consensuses have been reached, for example, on the assessment procedure, the reduction of duplicate trials, the promotion of cooperation between clinical trial institutes, and the mutual recognition of clinical data for drug applications.  The negotiation group will forward the consensuses to the MOHW to work out feasible follow-up plans. 

Wu Mei-Hung mentioned that both sides have exchanged comments on the prevention of Ebola virus; however, the talk did not extend to the cooperation in vaccine development.  The Chinese authorities showed interests in the comparatively advanced health management services in Taiwan, and hoped to increase the exchanges of experiences in improving healthcare service quality.

Wu Mei-Hung did not make any explicit reply to the question about whether Wang Yu-Chi, the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, will attend the APEC meeting held in Beijing in November.

【2014-09-04/ CAN News】