Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15 October 2025 — A national roundtable on Drug Repurposing was held this week in Kuala Lumpur, bringing together patient advocates, clinicians, researchers, regulators, and industry leaders to strengthen drug repurposing as a strategic approach for cancer and rare disease treatment in Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region.

Drug repurposing — the use of existing, approved medicines for new clinical indications — offers a faster, more affordable pathway to deliver treatments, particularly for patients facing limited options and high costs. The roundtable provided a platform for cross‑sector dialogue on how Malaysia can better translate scientific evidence into patient‑centred, accessible therapies.

Key Discussion Areas

Participants explored critical enablers and barriers to adoption, including:

• Integrating patient and community voices into research prioritisation and policy design
• Strengthening translational research pathways from bench to bedside
• Aligning regulatory and policy frameworks to support repurposed medicines
• Identifying sustainable funding mechanisms for implementation and scale‑up

International initiatives such as REMEDi4ALL and experiences from City St George’s, University of London were highlighted as reference models for coordinated national, regional, and international collaboration.

Key Outcomes

The roundtable resulted in several tangible outcomes:

• New cross‑sector collaborations between government, academia, industry, and civil society to advance awareness, access, and innovation in drug repurposing
• Agreement on next steps, including stakeholder mapping, targeted follow‑up workshops, and the identification of national and regional champions
• Reinforcement of Malaysia’s potential role as a regional hub for drug repurposing, with equity, affordability, and patient benefit at the centre of drug development strategies

Acknowledgements

The organisers thank all contributors and partners, including patient advocacy groups and representatives from Suara Kita; Society for Cancer Advocacy and Awareness Kuching (SCAN); Malaysian Rare Disorders Society (MRDS); Hemophilia Society of Malaysia; Sabah Kinabalu Pinkribbon; VitalSigns Asia; Persatuan WeCareJourney; Together Against Cancer; Third World Network; Institute of Medical Research; Ministry of Health Malaysia (KKM); Clinical Research Malaysia; National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA); Monash University Malaysia; Universiti Malaysia Sarawak; International Medical University (IMU); City St George’s, University of London; Duopharma Biotech Berhad; Hanan Medicare; Malaysian Organisation of Pharmaceutical Industries (MOPI); Malaysian Pharmacists Society; and the British High Commission to Malaysia.

The roundtable marks an important step towards advancing drug repurposing for cancers and rare diseases — from bench to bedside — in Malaysia and across ASEAN.

A full meeting report will be added soon.