AusBiotech applauds Minister for Health, Greg Hunt’s announcement of $12 million to ‘digitise, transform and modernise’ the TGA’s business systems and infrastructure.
The Minister announced the four-year measure will yield a significant reduction in red tape, cutting costs for the life sciences industry, better connecting services to get medicines and devices to patients sooner. It will also position Australia to more quickly access emerging and new health technologies in the international market.
Lorraine Chiroiu, CEO, AusBiotech, says, “We welcome the announcement: reduced red tape, efficiency, and getting products to patients more quickly without comprising safety, are areas that AusBiotech has extensively advocated for the mature Australian life sciences sector.
“Industry is a key driver of better health outcomes in our health system, and so utilising technology that better supports emerging and cutting-edge technologies is essential. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the TGA as these new systems are rolled out.”
The new digital processes aim to deliver simpler, faster and more secure interactions between industry and government to apply for, track, pay, and manage listings for regulated and subsidised health-related products and services. It will result in earlier approvals of medical products, reduced administrative effort, and timelier decision-making by the TGA.
Cybersecurity will also be bolstered to ensure the protection of commercial-in-confidence information from industry.
The TGA noted it receives 15,000 adverse drug reaction reports on patient safety per year which are entered manually through PDF rather than through a central database. With these reforms, medical companies will now be able to use an electronic database to report these patients’ safety events with automatic data transfer.