Lo Chung-mau and delegation call on HKMAO and NMPA in Beijing today

The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, and his delegation conducted the last day of their visit to Beijing today (Sept. 27) and called on the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) and the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

The delegation called on the Executive Deputy Director of the HKMAO of the State Council, Mr. Zhou Ji, this morning. Professor Lo expressed gratitude to the HKMAO for its continuous support and trust in the work of the Health Bureau (HHB) and introduced to Mr. Zhou the latest developments of various healthcare reform initiatives in Hong Kong, including the initial achievements in the area of health and medical innovation.

Professor Lo and his delegation then met with Deputy Commissioner of the NMPA Mr. Zhao Junning to exchange views on fostering closer collaboration between the Mainland and Hong Kong in key areas such as the regulatory and approval of drugs and medical devices, cross-boundary clinical trials, and real-world data research.

Professor Lo highlighted the efforts to develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub and establish an authority that registers drugs and medical devices under the "primary evaluation" approach in the long run.

The HKSAR Government implemented the new "1+" mechanism for approval of new drugs ("1+" mechanism) on November 1 last year. Since the implementation of the "1+" mechanism, the Department of Health (DH) has received over 250 inquiries from more than 70 pharmaceutical companies, including many overseas and Mainland pharmaceutical companies, and has approved five new drug applications under this mechanism, bringing new hope to patients. The "1+" mechanism has effectively accelerated the R&D and registration and approval of innovative drugs and medical devices in Hong Kong, bringing the benefits of good drugs and R&D to Hong Kong patients. At the same time, the HKSAR Government established the Preparatory Office for the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR) under the DH on June 5 this year to comprehensively study and plan a regulatory and approval regime for drugs and medical devices suitable for Hong Kong, as well as put forward proposals and steps for the establishment of the CMPR.

Members of the delegation include the Director of Health, Dr. Ronald Lam; Deputy Secretary for Health Mr. Sam Hui; the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr. Henry Fan; and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr. Tony Ko. They will return to Hong Kong tonight.

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