05 December 2023, Seoul. Philippines participated in the World Bio Summit (WBS) 2023 held from 20 to 21 November 2023 at the Conrad Hotel Seoul. The summit was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of the Republic of Korea and the World Health Organization (WHO) under the theme "Strengthening Capacities for Pandemic Response: Preparation of Workforce, Business and Civil Society," to discuss strategies in response to another potential pandemic and infectious disease threats.

Department of Health Assistant Secretary Atty. Charade B. Mercado-Grande and Ms. Jessabelle E. Basa, Head of the Quality Assurance Department- Biologicals Manufacturing Division-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine represented the Philippines in the summit. Philippine Embassy officials Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega and Third Secretary and Vice Consul Reisha L. Olavario also attended the summit.

The two-day summit convened four sessions with in-depth discussions on strengthening vaccine, pharmaceutical, and diagnostics manufacturing and regulatory oversight, accelerating pandemic therapeutics development and manufacturing, international support strategies for the growth of the global In Vitro Diagnostics industry and strengthening global preparedness through the 100-Days mission program, a Coalition for Pandemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) program supported by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) envisioned to reduce the time taken to develop safe and effective vaccines. Bilateral meetings and workshops were also held at the sidelines of the summit.

The World Bio Summit, now on its second edition, is a constructive platform for governments, international organizations, industry stakeholders and civil society to share experience, knowledge and insights from the COVID-19 pandemic. It further aims to lay a solid foundation to enhance global cooperation by establishing a secure health system capable of addressing threats to human health and responding to infectious diseases. The summit encourages stakeholders to take a proactive response to health crisis that may arise in the future. END