Abstract
The project “Design and development of system and tools for prioritizing local
health innovations in the early stages to increase the chances of local health innovation
being included in the benefit package in the public health insurance schemes in Thailand”
aimed to foster medical innovation development through establishing Early Health
Technology Assessment (early HTA) process, which assesses the potential impact of
technology adoption on a large scale during the research and development (R&D) phase.
Here, we created data and data-driven tools which innovators can apply in their R&D
processes by prioritizing the demand for systems innovations and health technology
innovations from the analysis and synthesis of the disease burdens and costs in the
healthcare system and exploring factors not relating to clinical indications that influence
healthcare professionals’ decisions when selecting medical innovations. We also
synthesized approaches to defining Target Product Profiles (TPP), an essential mechanism
used by the World Health Organization to ensure that health innovations will meet global
health needs. Subsequently, the developed framework was applied to assess two
innovations under development as case studies: anti-metabolic syndrome herbal extracts
and a digital game which aimed to educate and enhance rabies prevention and
management skills among the health and veterinary volunteers. Additionally, we raised
awareness on early-value assessment by disseminating the knowledge derived from this
project, building the capacities of innovators, executives of organizations in the innovation
ecosystem, and funding agencies both domestically and internationally.
