The REAL World Data In ASia for HEalth Technology Assessment in Reimbursement (REALISE) working group (WG), under the support of International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), includes representatives from health technology assessment (HTA) agencies and academic institutions from Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. It seeks to develop a non-binding guidance document on how to translate real-world data (RWD) into real-world evidence (RWE) for HTA studies and specifically to aid drug reimbursement decision making in Asia. The core team for this project comprises staff from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore (SSHSPH, NUS) and Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Thailand.

The REALISE WG held its 2^nd in-person meeting on 15^th – 16^th Oct 2019 in Singapore with three objectives in mind: (1) to finalize Theme One of the guidance document (‘Scenarios to use RWD/RWE’); (2) to brainstorm and build an effective dissemination strategy; and (3) to get inputs from the each WG member on Themes Two (‘Collecting RWD’) and Three (‘From RWD to RWE’) of the guidance document.

Through a series of in-person and virtual presentations, four countries with existing local guidance on RWE (China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan) described the current trends and challenges for RWD collection and use in their own countries, while another four (Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia) presented case studies of how they have used RWD in monitoring or evaluating health interventions that have in turn impacted policy.

WG members were also invited for one-on-one interviews to understand the health care context in their individual countries and how RWD is collected and used, with eight countries interviewed at side meetings during the two-day event. It was also a prime opportunity to clarify and finalize their responses to the Theme One draft.

WG members participated in an active World Café discussion to consider specific scenarios of RWD usage and to suggest the types of RWD that would be crucial to collect in order to establish comparable groups between treatment and control arms. Discussions revolved around two tables on what data to collect; where to collect; how to collect; challenges encountered in RWD collection; and potential solutions to resolve them.

The meeting concluded by affirming our commitment to the timeline for future work on the guidance document, and to key milestones leading up to the next planned in-person WG meeting at HTAsiaLink 2020, Bali.

Afternote: The 3rd in-person meeting planned for 2020 has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The guidance document will undergo review from the WG virtually.