00:00The pitch is ambitious, transformed Trinidad and Tobago from a consumer of medical technology into a producer and developer of
00:09it.
00:10One of the conference speakers says the country has the potential to support pharmaceutical manufacturing while developing new areas of
00:18medical science.
00:19And when we saw this opportunity, I think it gave us an opportunity to really try to make Trinidad the
00:28potential that it has.
00:30Several years ago, just before the pandemic, my nephew and I and several doctors from Pfizer, we were actually putting
00:38in place to bring a manufacturing plant to manufacture drugs here.
00:44That vision includes the production of vaccines locally, something the speaker says could reduce the region's dependence on supplies from
00:53outside the Caribbean.
00:55The thing about this, it has the science. This is not just no snake oil or you could go to
01:00some places deep in some countries and, you know, this has the science.
01:05All right. And not only are we able to manufacture the products for Tunze, but also that the plant will
01:14have the capabilities of providing, producing vaccines.
01:18Advanced cancer treatment is another area being highlighted.
01:22The conference is examining therapies designed to use the body's own immune system to target disease.
01:28There are some really, really good advance in treating cancer.
01:35There's something called checkpoint inhibitors. There are biologics.
01:39These are things that you could actually use your own immune system.
01:44This week, it says developments in biologic treatments have changed what is possible for some patients diagnosed with cancer.
01:51These are newer medicine that we can actually even treat advanced medicine.
01:58Long ago, if you have colon cancer or lung cancer and you're at stage 2, you're kind of on your
02:03way to stage 4 and you start making plans for your funeral.
02:07But you can get there now. If you have stage 2 lung cancer or stage 2, even colon cancer, even
02:14going into 3, a lot of people can still be cured.
02:17But the objective is not only to bring technology here.
02:22There's also a push to build local expertise with the conference promoting opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago scientists and researchers.
02:30We also want to get into that academic space where we will share that knowledge to the next generation.
02:40Trinidad has some really smart people and we want to have the next generation of scientists coming from Trinidad and
02:49Tobago.
02:50The ambition extends beyond TNT with the country being positioned as a potential base for serving the wider Caribbean.
02:57But any development will have to operate within the country's regulatory framework.
03:02And hopefully we can all work together with the government, with all the regulations.
03:07We are not here to bypass anything.
03:08We are here to be as transparent, to let them be a part of what we do so that this
03:15information, because, you know, I'm a person, we, the way we practice, we practice what we call evidence-based medicine.
03:21The conference is also examining regenerative medicine and longevity.
03:26Fields proponents say could reshape how diseases are prevented and treated while creating new opportunities for medical research and innovation
03:35in the region.
