The hospitals are Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (Kota Bharu, Kelantan), Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (Ipoh, Perak), Sibu Hospital (Sarawak), Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital (Alor Setar, Kedah), Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (Klang, Selangor) and Sarawak General Hospital.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the programme would be carried out through partnership between his ministry, Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM) and Quintiles Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
“This partnership will facilitate the efficient enrolment of volunteers for clinical trials and the conduct of such trials with high quality,” he said in his speech at the opening of the Eighth National Conference on Clinical Research, here, today.
The text of his speech was read out by Health deputy director-general (Research and Technical Support), Dr Shahnaz Murad.
CRM is a government-owned company set up under the Entry Point Project 2 (EPP2) of the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) for healthcare, while Quintiles is the world’s largest provider of biopharmaceutical development and commercial outsourcing services.
Dr Subramaniam said CRM coordinated the promotion of Malaysia as a high- quality and high-performing clinical research destination in the Asean region with a view to generate foreign direct investment of RM578 million and 1,000 high-skilled jobs by 2020.
He said clinical research had been identified as a priority under the NKEA for healthcare initiative, with the aim of developing a supportive clinical research ecosystem that would allow for more efficient and quality clinical trials.
“Over the years, the government has invested strategically to create a supportive ecosystem to grow clinical research in Malaysia,” he added.
— BERNAMA
