Last December 9, 2021, UP Manila and its National Institutes of Health (NIH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM) of Japan as a kick-start to the Multi-Regional Clinical Trial (MRCT) Network. The MRCT Network was organized by NCGM with the Asian Research Institutions and the ARO Alliance for ASEAN and East Asia (ARISE). Present in this virtual ceremony were other members from the participating countries, including Mahidol University in Thailand, University of Indonesia and Mochtar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology in Indonesia, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, and Manila Doctors Hospital.

This alliance seeks to promote research in the region by conducting multi-site clinical studies of therapeutic and diagnostic agents for COVID-19 and other diseases such as malaria, conducting multi-country surveys and training on the competencies of clinical researchers, and acting as support for capacity building as academic clinical research institutes.  NCGM will open collaboration base offices in these core research facilities. Currently, the collaboration office of NCGM is located in the Philippine Eye Research Institute (PERI) at the Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal Building, Philippine General Hospital, UP Manila compound. The PERI is one of the institutes of the UPM-NIH.