The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), a vital part of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), stands at the forefront of advancing health research and technology in the Philippines. Their core mission is to make lives better through health research, fundamentally aiming for innovations that are not just developed, but also effectively translated and disseminated to genuinely reach and benefit communities through a people-centered approach to healthcare.

The Indispensable Role of IP

Intellectual Property is a critical element in this health innovation ecosystem, particularly for translating research into tangible, accessible solutions. 
In 2021 alone, PCHRD demonstrated a robust commitment to fostering local innovation by filing a total of 71 IP applications, encompassing patents, utility models, trademarks, and copyrights.
This proactive engagement in IP protection is vital for supporting the entire journey from research to commercialization and widespread community access.

PCHRD actively supports various initiatives to strengthen the IP landscape for health innovations:

✔️ IPROTECH (Intellectual Property Rights and Technology Transfer for Health)
 This program provides essential IP-related services to health research consortia, including assistance with policy development, IP protection, and licensing.

✔️ Projects CAPACITÀ and KANDILI
 Under the Institute of Biomedical Engineering & Health Technologies (IBEHT), these projects are specifically aimed at enabling the commercialization of biomedical devices and health technologies, a process inherently linked to effective IP management.

✔️ Startup Research Grant Program
 This program directly supports Filipino-owned health sector startups by helping them overcome research and development (R&D) roadblocks and strengthen their IP, which is crucial here because it allows startups to protect their innovations, attract investment, and bring new health solutions to market.

Protection vs. Access: A The Fundamental Tension

While IP protection incentivizes innovation by granting exclusive rights, there is a fundamental tension, we may say also a hurdle, between providing these incentives and ensuring widespread, affordable access to essential health technologies and medicines. This balance is particularly salient in the context of people-centered healthcare.

⚕️"Second Medical Use" Exclusion in the Philippines

 The Philippine Intellectual Property Code explicitly excludes the patentability of second medical uses of known substances, including new forms or new uses that do not significantly enhance efficacy.
 This legislative stance was strengthened by the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act or Cheaper Medicines Act, specifically to maintain affordability in healthcare.
This means that a known drug cannot be re-patented just because a new medical use for it is discovered, unless it genuinely offers a significant therapeutic advantage, which aligns with the global discussion on preventing "evergreening" of patents.

💡Contextualizing "Second Medical Use"
 In patent law, "second medical use" refers to the discovery of a new therapeutic application for a substance that is already known and possibly used for another medical purpose.
 The Philippines maintains stricter exclusions to prioritize affordability, while countries like Thailand allow Swiss-type claims for new medical uses of known substances if they demonstrate novelty and inventive step, carefully avoiding dosage or therapeutic steps.
Indonesia has recently removed exemptions to allow patents for "second medical use" of known pharmaceutical products or compounds. Vietnam, on the other hand, generally does not accept method claims for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, or "use of" claims for patentability.

🌐TRIPS Flexibilities

International agreements like the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement contain "flexibilities" that allow developing countries to design their IP regimes to suit their economic and technological needs, balancing protection with public policy objectives like public health. 

⭕Strict Criteria for Patentability
 Countries can rigorously apply standards of novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability to ensure only genuine innovations receive patent protection, preventing the proliferation of "trivial patents" that do not represent significant technological progress.

⭕Compulsory Licensing and Government Use
 The TRIPS Agreement permits countries to allow third parties to produce a patented product without the patent owner's consent, especially for public health needs.

⭕Limiting Test Data Protection ("Data Exclusivity")
 TRIPS requires protection of test data from unfair commercial use but does not mandate "data exclusivity," which would otherwise delay generic drug entry by requiring independent data generation.
 These flexibilities are crucial for countries, especially low- and middle-income ones, to retain policy space in designing IP rules that serve their development interests, including ensuring access to affordable medicines and health technologies.

Specific Healthcare Areas: IP and People-Centered Innovation In-Action

😷COVID-19 Response

PCHRD has supported critical research during the pandemic, including, but not limited to, the following:

✅ Studies on prototype assays for SARS-CoV-2 detection using saliva;
✅ Research into traditional Filipino remedies such as Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), Lagundi, and Tawa-tawa as adjunctive therapies;
✅ The development and clinical testing of SiglaVent, an automated Ambu bag with ventilator features for emergency use; and
✅ A project to develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of a low-cost ventilator system for tropical indoor environments to curb airborne virus spread.

Effective IP management is essential to ensure that such locally developed solutions can be scaled up, manufactured, and distributed affordably to reach a wider population, truly embodying people-centered care.

⚙️Digital Health Adoption

The integration of digital health technologies is crucial for improving treatment and service delivery and achieving Universal Health Care (UHC). Innovations like enhanced electronic referral (e-referral) systems and AI-powered procurement platforms like MedHyve are streamlining operations.
 However, challenges persist in building trust through data protection and governance and addressing the scarcity of digitally-skilled healthcare professionals. IP rights for digital health solutions need to be carefully managed to foster innovation while ensuring data privacy and accessibility for all users.

💊Viral Hepatitis Care

Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of severe liver disease in the Philippines. Efforts are underway to integrate viral hepatitis care into primary healthcare, emphasizing a people-centered approach. Listed below are the key challenges identified in the Philippines.

🔴 Limited awareness about hepatitis and its management.
🔴 Widespread stigma and psychological impacts, often exacerbated when services are co-located with HIV clinics.
🔴 Difficult physical access to care.
🔴 The cost of care and treatment.
🔴 A consistent shortage in the supply of hepatitis C medicines and limited access to viral load testing. IP directly influences the availability and affordability of diagnostics and treatments, which are critical for overcoming these barriers. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes "people-centered health services" as an approach that adopts the perspectives of individuals, families, and communities, seeing them as participants and beneficiaries of trusted health systems. WHO also promotes the integration and decentralization of hepatitis services, task-sharing with non-specialists, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and point-of-care (POC) molecular tests to improve access and linkage to care, especially in low-resource settings.
 The Philippines is currently working on updating its HBV and HCV action plans from 2013 and needs to focus on strategies like decentralizing testing and developing additional hubs to ensure access across its many islands.

Cultivating a Strong Innovation Ecosystem

Strategic collaboration is key to nurturing a robust innovation ecosystem that benefits people. The Asian Regional Conference in Support of Accelerated Life Sciences Innovation, co-hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) in Manila last September 2023, exemplifies efforts to foster IP management and technology transfer in life sciences and health technologies across the ASEAN region. The conference notably discussed the use of WIPO Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) options to facilitate contract negotiation and dispute resolution in life sciences, highlighting IP rights as a cornerstone for technology transfer and investment in R&D.

PCHRD also plays a vital role in research dissemination through various channels such as social media, webinars, and conferences to provide accurate health information and inform policy-making. Initiatives like HERDIN Plus (Health Research and Development Information Network Platform of Unified Research Information Management Systems) aim to increase access to health research information, strengthen partnerships, and build research capacities. Furthermore, international collaborations, such as with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and UP-Manila, provide capacity-building activities like research fellowships, scholarships, and post-doctoral training for Filipino researchers.

As the Philippines continues its journey toward a healthier future, the strategic management of intellectual property will remain vital, ensuring that cutting-edge research translates into accessible, impactful, and people-centered healthcare solutions for every Filipino.

#HealthInnovation #IntellectualProperty #PeopleCenteredCare #DigitalHealth #PublicHealth #Philippines #DOSTPCHRD #HealthTech #ASEAN

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Created and Written by Alexandra Palacpac, UandIP/U&IP 2025.⁠

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References

Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). (n.d.). Intellectual Property Code & Implementing Rules and Regulations. Retrieved from https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/intellectual-property-code-implementing-rules-and-regulations/ (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. (2021). PCHRD Annual Report 2021. (Specific page numbers for IP filings and initiatives would be added if available from the report itself). Retrieved from https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2021-PCHRD-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. (n.d.). Collaborations. Retrieved from https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/what-we-do/collaborations/ (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. (n.d.). HERDIN Plus. Retrieved from https://www.herdin.ph/ (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. (n.d.). IPROTECH. Retrieved from https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/iprotech-2/ (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. (n.d.). PCHRD supports conduct of R&D by PH startups. Retrieved from https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/news_and_updates/pchrd-supports-conduct-of-rd-by-ph-startups/ (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

Republic of the Philippines. (2008). Republic Act No. 9502: Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008. (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Hepatitis. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/hepatitis (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (n.d.). Technical Assistance Database: Search Results (Philippines). Retrieved from https://www.wipo.int/tad/en/activitysearchresult.jsp?vcntry=PH (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

WIPO. (n.d.). TRIPS and Public Health. Retrieved from https://www.wipo.int/ip-development/en/policy/flexibilities.html (Accessed by AI on July 28, 2025).

WIPO. (2023 October 02). "Asian Regional Conference in Support of Accelerated Life Sciences Innovation". Retrieved: https://www.wipo.int/en/web/technology-transfer/w/news/2023/news_0008

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