KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) is currently working to strengthen the national vaccine ecosystem to ensure Malaysia is ready to face any pandemic threat in the future, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

To achieve the goal, its minister, Chang Lih Kang, said that it is focusing on producing vaccines for humans through improved collaborations between agencies and industry, both at home and abroad.

"A discussion with the industry was also held yesterday, among other things, to ensure that training related to the production of human vaccines also involves other stakeholders. This is because the provision of capacity at the manufacturing level is one of the important elements in the production of the vaccine.

"Having a relationship with the industry is important for scientists at Malaysia Genome and Vaccine Institute (MGVI and National Institute of Biotechnology Malaysia (NIBM) to receive direct training from global vaccine producers,” he said.

He said this when winding up the committee-level debate on the Supply Bill 2024 for the ministry.

As of last October, Mosti’s strategic agency Mimos (Malaysia’s national Applied Research and Development Centre) had registered 1,387 patents with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).

Additionally, a total of 959 patents were registered internationally under the Patent Corporation Treaty (PCT) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Out of these, 343 patents have been implemented in ICT solution projects for public and private sectors and have been successfully commercialised. — Bernama