John Lee to promise better meds, bigger biomed pie for Hong Kong in policy address

Hong Kong’s leader is expected to bolster efforts to entice more drug companies to conduct clinical trials and other research locally, with potential access to the mainland Chinese market as a lure, in a bid to turn the city into a biomedical innovation hub, the Post has learned.

Several sources said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu was likely to devote part of his annual policy address on Wednesday to the latest biomedical developments at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, where Hong Kong’s first government-led clinical trial institute is also located.

An insider added that authorities might expand a newly set-up local drug registration system to cover a wider range of medication types, allowing patients with different diseases to have quicker access to treatments.

“The overall work was laid down in the last policy address … and obviously it will be carried on this year,” the source said.

Lee vowed last year to turn the city into a health and medical innovation hub with measures such as creating the city’s own drug regulatory authority, the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation, as well as establishing a new registration mechanism to expedite the approval process and setting up the clinical trial institute.

The streamlined registration mechanism aims to pave the way for a primary drug review system, becoming part of an ecosystem that can attract scientists and overseas companies to conduct research and clinical trials in the city.