APOPA Newsletter: APOPA Establishes Strategic Partnership with Incoming Thai FDA Secretary-General
APOPA Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 2025 | October 2025
APOPA Establishes Strategic Partnership with Incoming Thai FDA Secretary-General
On September 29, 2025, the leadership of the Asia Pacific Oncology Pharmacy Association achieved a significant milestone by meeting with Pharmacist Supattra Boonserm, who will assume the position of Secretary-General of the Thai Food and Drug Administration on October 1, 2025. Our President and Vice President engaged with Pharmacist Boonserm, currently serving as Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Health for Health Region 5, to establish collaborative frameworks that will advance patient safety and regulatory effectiveness in oncology pharmaceutical care.
The timing of this meeting reflects our organization's proactive approach to engaging with regulatory leadership. By establishing dialogue with the incoming Secretary-General prior to her official appointment, we have created an important foundation for collaboration between APOPA and Thailand's principal regulatory authority. This engagement demonstrates our commitment to supporting national health policy objectives while contributing our specialized expertise to initiatives that will benefit patients throughout the country.
Advancing Safety Surveillance in Cancer Treatment
The discussion centered on two critical areas that align directly with our organizational mission and strategic priorities. The first area addressed the development of coordinated approaches to safety surveillance for cancer medications. Our association's specialized knowledge in chemotherapy handling, preparation, administration, and monitoring positions us as a valuable partner to the Thai FDA in strengthening pharmacovigilance systems across Thailand. This collaboration has the potential to enhance the detection and management of adverse events, improve medication error reporting mechanisms, and strengthen overall patient safety frameworks in oncology settings nationwide.
The conversation explored practical mechanisms through which APOPA members can contribute to robust safety monitoring protocols. Our practitioners work daily with cancer medications in diverse clinical settings, providing them with firsthand insights into real-world safety challenges and practical solutions. By channeling this collective experience into collaborative initiatives with the Thai FDA, we can help ensure that regulatory frameworks adequately address the realities of oncology pharmacy practice while maintaining the highest standards of patient protection.
Preparing for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products
The second major focus of our discussion addressed advanced therapy medicinal products, an emerging category of therapeutic interventions that represents the future of cancer treatment. These innovative modalities, including cell and gene therapies, tissue-engineered products, and other biologically complex interventions, present unique challenges in preparation, handling, storage, administration, and safety monitoring. The inclusion of this topic in our strategic dialogue reflects the evolving landscape of oncology care and the need for pharmaceutical professionals to develop specialized competencies as these treatments become more widely available in Thailand.
Our engagement in discussions about advanced therapy medicinal products positions APOPA and its members at the forefront of preparing for these transformative therapies. These products require fundamentally different approaches to pharmaceutical care compared to traditional chemotherapy agents. By working collaboratively with the Thai FDA from the early stages of regulatory framework development, we can help ensure that protocols and guidelines reflect both international best practices and the practical requirements of safe and effective implementation in Thai healthcare settings.
Supporting National Health Policy Development
This meeting establishes an important foundation for ongoing collaboration between APOPA and the Ministry of Public Health on matters of mutual interest and significant public health importance. The partnership creates opportunities for our association to contribute specialized knowledge to national policy development processes, ensuring that regulatory frameworks are informed by clinical expertise and practical experience. This type of engagement exemplifies our commitment to serving as a bridge between clinical practice, academic excellence, and public health policy.
The collaboration directly supports multiple strategic goals that guide our organizational activities. It reflects our commitment to fostering partnerships with relevant healthcare organizations while advancing our dedication to safe handling practices. By engaging with regulatory authorities at the highest levels, we reinforce our role as a professional organization that contributes meaningfully to improving the efficiency and safety of cancer medication use throughout Thailand.
Looking Forward
As Pharmacist Supattra Boonserm assumes her leadership role at the Thai FDA, the groundwork established through this initial consultation positions APOPA as a committed and capable partner in advancing therapeutic safety and quality in oncology care. The coming months will bring opportunities to formalize collaborative arrangements and define specific initiatives that can yield tangible benefits for patient safety, professional development, and regulatory effectiveness.
Our continued engagement with regulatory authorities represents an investment in the future of oncology pharmacy practice in Thailand. Through these partnerships, we work toward our long-term vision of becoming a driving force for excellence in cancer care, contributing our expertise to initiatives that will benefit patients and practitioners throughout Thailand and across the broader Asia-Pacific region. This collaborative approach ensures that as cancer treatment continues to evolve, the pharmaceutical care systems supporting these therapies will evolve as well, maintaining the highest standards of safety, efficacy, and patient-centered care.
About APOPA
The Asia Pacific Oncology Pharmacy Association (Thailand) is dedicated to advancing pharmaceutical care for cancer patients through education, research, safe handling practices, and professional collaboration. Our work supports the development of oncology pharmacy standards throughout the Asia-Pacific region while strengthening Thailand's position as a center for pharmaceutical excellence and innovation. For more information about our activities and membership opportunities, please contact our secretariat.