{
  "id": 13919481,
  "title": "Good medical innovations reach patients sooner with good regulation: Ong Ye Kung",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/good-medical-innovations-reach-patients-sooner-with-good-regulation",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-12T09:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/good-medical-innovations-reach-patients-sooner-with-good-regulation-ong-ye-kung"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Oct 12, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced various initiatives to help innovative health products reach patients sooner in Singapore. These initiatives include clearer guidance on regulatory requirements, support in identifying investigators and coordinating trial sites, and faster approval timelines for certain lower-risk clinical trials. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will also establish a priority track for health technology assessment (HTA) by November, allowing for concurrent HTA and regulatory evaluation. This process is expected to shorten the time needed to reach the first HTA decision from one year to six to nine months post-regulatory approval. HSA aims to achieve WHO Listed Authority status for vaccines to strengthen Singapore's position as a trusted gateway to global markets. Other efforts by HSA involve building capabilities and developing regulatory guidance for artificial intelligence across the healthcare sector, streamlining the regulatory process for devices, services, and AI-driven healthcare.",
  "summary": "Ong said the authorities are determined to make Singapore much more competitive in clinical trials.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}