RECENTLY, the department’s regional offices transitioned the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading (SETUP) Program to a new phase of program implementation dubbed as SETUP 4.0.
Aside from providing firm-level assistance, the new program now ventured into industry-level assistance, including the preparation of the Science and Technology roadmaps. The Department of Science and Technology Region 6 (DOST-6) leads the healthcare and wellness (H&W) industry roadmap.
The H&W industry is composed of four subsectors: pharmaceuticals (generic drugs), herbal drugs, functional food, food supplements, and personal care products.
As one of the activities in crafting the roadmap, the DOST-6 conducted numerous activities, including the recent online focus group discussions to the pharmaceuticals (generic drugs) subsector.
Moderated by DOST-6 consultant Lerma Paris, five resource speakers shared their substantial experiences and inputs about pharmaceuticals in the country.
The speakers were vice president of EL Laboratories, Inc., Maria Rosario Barangan; president of the Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations, Dr. Yolanda Robles; president and chairman of the Board of Hygieian Institute for Education, Research and Training, Inc., Leonila Ocampo; Business Development manager of Lloyd Laboratories, Inc., Sonny Bob Cardinal; and vice president of Maridan Industries, Inc., Jan Vincent Sollesta.
The discussions enabled the department to gather the views, experiences, insights, and opinions of the key industry players on the level of S&T utilization or adoption in their industry. One of the common issues shared was the urgent need to improve the processing of the certificate of product registrations, among others.
Moreover, it identified factors to consider when developing the S&T roadmaps and described the department’s role in terms of program and service deployment and delivery.(DOST-6)
