Research and Development of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) Situation in Thailand: Current and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Advances in biomedical sciences have resulted in new innovative treatment choices for diseases with significant unmet medical requirements and increased opportunities to improve patient quality of life. Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) are the fast-growing innovative therapy for the treatment of various diseases, which are comprised of gene therapy, cell-based therapy, tissue-engineered, and products integrally combined with medical devices. However, the information about ATMPs research and development, clinical trials, and manufacturing in Thailand are still scarce. In this study, we aimed to determine the ATMPs research situation in Thailand. A survey-based cohort study was conducted among 172 science research institutes in Thailand. All the data were performed using descriptive analysis. The results were presented as a frequency distribution. The only 24 research institutes (14.0%) responded, providing 102 ATMP-related works. The majority of the research was engineered human cells (21.6%), followed by non-Embryonic (adult) stem cells and scaffold/tissue repair field (10.8%). Surprisingly, 48.4% of the study was basic research without ATMP treatment services. The challenges were the shortage of staff (83.3%) and shortage of ATMP infrastructure (62.5%). These results indicated that Thailand needs to implement the policies to drive the ATMPs medical services in many aspects, such as the development of ATMP infrastructure complied to international standards, building a solid network of ATMP laboratories, and tailoring consultant services along with implementing the serving a contract manufacturing business. These strategies will increase the number of products in markets, Thailand’s competitive potential, decrease the imported medical product rate and sustainably enhance Thai people’s quality of life.