August 30, 2019 — From Yerba Buena for post-operative pain control to a mobile application for hip fracture detection, UP Manila has inventions and innovations in health which can benefit Filipinos. But its researchers and innovators need industry partners to progress—ranging from further research to development to licensing to expansion.  To help the group, a one-day event  was held where industry and government agencies were invited to listen to the scientists pitch their work. 

Called “TEKNOLUSUGAN: Shaping UP Juan’s Health Through Innovations and Partnerships”, it was held on 28 August 2019 at the University of the Philippines-Bonifacio Global City as part of the UP Manila Science and Technology Week celebration held on Aug. 27-30, 2019.

Organized by the UP Manila Technology Transfer and Business Development Office (TTBDO) under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, seven medicinal plant products and six biomedical devices and innovations were pitched to guests from the industry and government agencies. 

Chancellor Carmencita Padilla described the event as the “start of a series of conversations with industry. The researches of the faculty and researchers will be no good if they do not move on to policy or industry.”  

She apprised the audience that part of what UP Manila does in this area is to dialogue with the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that the government will be open to adopt a product once it is finished and its clinical trials completed. 

For universities which have several ideas in research, but lack the numbers for clinical trials, the chancellor assured them that UPM and PGH are willing to help. “Any progress in health research will mean much for the country,” she said. 

Dr. Jaime Montoya,  Executive Director of the DOST’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and described by Chancellor Padilla as one of the reasons why research in the country is moving forward, gave an update of what his agency offers researchers with regard to the product development cycle–from Proof of Concept to Market (whether industry or community-at-large). 

He mentioned the following: Grants-in-Aid for research projects; Prototype Development; and Technology Transfer Offices (from policy orientation to capacity-building). He  also said that the following will have a big impact on research: creation of the Health and Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) which will advise government which technologies it could acquire (this could be placed under the PCHRD); a proposal for UP Manila to establish a Clinical Trial Center under the PCHRD’s NICHE Center for Excellence Program; and a proposal for the establishment of a Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) which will support Philippine health technologies for Filipinos. Thailand has a GPO and it was able to bring down the prices of anti-retroviral drugs which in turn lowered the country’s HIV cases significantly.  He thanked everyone for the work they have been doing.

Since August 28 was also the day the UP Board of Regents approved into law the creation of UPM-TTBDO, past heads of the unit were invited to be honored. First was Atty. Zaldy Docena (1 Feb. 2006 – 21 Feb. 2010) who is now a Regional Trial Court Judge. Under his term as Chief Legal Counsel of the UP Manila Legal Office the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), TTBDO was conceptualized and he penned document creating the office. The other heads were Atty. Elizabeth Pulumbarit (22 Feb.-21 Oct. 2011) who put together the TTBDO at the UP System level; the late Atty. Anunciacion Ayo as Officer-in-Charge of IPO (11 Nov. 2011-31 Dec. 2013) who was represented by her nieces Frances and Diane Barcena; Atty. James Dennis Gumpal as IPO’s OIC  (1 Apr. 2014-30 June 2015); and Dr. Alvin Valeriano Marcelo also as IPO’s OIC (1 July-24 Aug. 2015), then Director of UPM-TTBDO (25 Aug. 2015-31 Dec. 2018). He was represented by his children, Andres Artemio and Athena Andrea Marcelo.   Dr. Lourdes Marie Tejero is the current head of the unit. 

Dr. Cecilia C. Maramba-Lazarte of the Institute of Herbal Medicine presented the medicinal plant products. She mentioned that all had rare to no side effects, were made from locally-sourced materials (hence, will benefit farmers), are cheaper than the synthetic ones in the market, and will boost the Philippine Pharmaceutical Industry. The following products were highlighted: (1)Yerba Buena tablets for relief of various types of pain, including post-operative ones; (2) Tsaang Gubat tablets for pain from gastrointestinal colic and biliary colic pain; (3) Ulasimang Bato or pansit-pansitan for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout; and (4) Sambong as a diuretic and for treating urinary tract stones.

Other important presentations were the following:
• Dr. Gracia Fe B. Yu of UPCM Department of Biochemistry – Anti-Dengue Virus Preparations for the treatment and prevention of dengue disease and outbreak;
• Dr. Erna Arollado of NIH Institute of Pharmaceutical Science – Mosquito Repellent Oil that is highly potent yet non-toxic, cheaper, and longer-lasting than leading brands; and Hemoxyther for iron deficiency anemia;
• Dr. Jose B. Nevado of UPCM and NIH Institute of Human Genetics – DEFA1 and CFI Marker are diagnostic and decision-making tool kits for the prevention of occurrences of leptospirosis-related death and complications through medical intervention;
• Dr. Geohari Hamoy of the National Telehealth Center – Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS) is a proven efficient electronic medical records (EMR)  for patients’ record management, reports generation, claims processing;
• Dr. Ruby Anne N. King of Biomedical Innovations Research for Translational Health Science (BIRTHA) Laboratory, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UPCM –  PEPTHEMATICS are Peptides and Modified Blood Products for Diagnosis and Treatment of Coagulopathic, Inflammatory, and Infectious Conditions;
• Dr. Emmanuel Baja of NIH Institute of Clinical Epidemiology – Battle in the Blood (BitB) is an HIV digital advocacy gaming application currently available for free on Google Play and App Store; and
• Prof. Marvin John C. Ignacio of the Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences – AcquilaVR is a virtual reality application which complements existing autism therapies to help lessen the unpredictable behavior of school children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; and COXA or Deep Learning for Hip Fracture Classification is a mobile application for hip fracture which can be used in areas without internet or in the temporary absence of a radiologist with teleconsultation functionalities.

Chancellor Padilla revealed that UP Manila has 60 other inventions/innovations in the pipeline. These do not include the biomedical devices from its training institution, the Philippine General Hospital. She intimated that another event may be organized by the OVCR and UPM-TTBDO devoted solely to PGH products.
 
Other highlights of the fora were the researchers’ interests on intellectual property rights, international licensing, and most especially on funding. Guests from the DOST and the IPOPHL gave succinct answers on what to do, especially on filing your patent early, but it was clear that the researchers in the audience were hungry for more in-depth discussions.

For inquiries, please visit the TTBDO website: http://ttbdo.upm.edu.ph.

Fedelynn Jemena | Published in UP Manila Healthscape July – August 2019