October 14-15, 2024, Royal Plaza in Scotts, Singapore

Introduction: International collaboration in health, science, and technology is vital for innovation and public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, global cooperation was crucial for developing vaccines and building pandemic resilience infrastructure. However, increased collaboration has raised concerns about vulnerabilities to exploitation and biological weapons proliferation. As recovery continues, the global biorisk community must discuss lessons learned for biosafety and biosecurity to enhance pandemic resilience and protect research from malign exploitation.

Project overview: Health Security Partners (HSP) and local partners BioRisk Association of the Philippines 2015, Inc. (BRAP2015) conducted consultative meetings in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines separately, involving stakeholders from government, academia, and industry related to COVID-19 R&D. Supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Biosecurity Engagement Program, these meetings aimed to discuss pandemic response and biosafety collaboration, generating recommendations to mitigate risks. Using biosecurity case studies, the meetings followed the Chatham House Rule for open dialogue. After the discussions, HSP created a landscape analysis of international collaboration during the pandemic, culminating in a report and a follow-up virtual meeting to discuss findings.

Impact: As we recover from COVID-19, stakeholders must unite to discuss lessons for future biosafety and biosecurity collaboration. This program aims to strengthen national and regional capacities, helping countries recognize lessons in biosafety and safeguard international health, science, and technology collaboration against exploitation.

In Random order: HSP Senior Program Manager, Ms. Libby Cha, BRAP 1st International Lifetime Member and BSS Guru, Dr. Viji Vijayan with BRAP President Mr Ronaldo Puno, BRAP Founding President Dr Miguel Martin Moreno II, BRAP Secretary Mr Ariel Angelo Aquino, BRAP Treasurer Ms Michaella Sayo, BRAP Asst. Treasurer Mr Lito Atienza, and BRAP members Ms Jocelyn Aquisay, Mr Benjamin IV Mutya, Dr Franco Teves, Mr John Kenneth Pagdanganan, Mr Fernando Calero, and Ms Jessica Mae Roxas,