EBE Releases White Paper on Personalised Medicine with a Focus on Key Challenges

EBE releases White Paper on Personalised Medicine with a focus on key challenges

EBE today launches its White Paper on Personalised Medicine, which explains the concept and benefits of personalised medicine and sets out key challenges to overcome to make personalised medicine a reality for patients.

Personalised medicine aims to deliver the right medicine to the right patient at the right time. Using modern technology, personalised medicine targets treatments to patients that are most likely to benefit from them, in contrast to the traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach to medicines. An appropriate environment is needed to achieve better access to personalised medicines.
EBE highlights in its White Paper the components needed, noting that it does not so much require a change in the law, as a change in mind-set.

Specifically, EBE calls for:

—greater investment in e-health and big data infrastructure, for innovative regulatory science and access mechanisms for the benefit of patients;

—establishing data privacy and protection laws, which effectively protect patients while also allowing for pan-European research initiatives;

—appropriate European regulation to ensure access to reliable methods for correct diagnosis; the ongoing trilogue on a medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics regulation provides a unique opportunity for progress.

The draft Council Conclusions on making access to personalized medicine a reality for patients proposed by the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2015 highlight the need for a paradigm shift to realise the promises of personalised medicine. EBE fully agrees, and strongly believes that further action is needed to make the promise a reality.

The Council Conclusions provide an opportunity for key stakeholders to set up a process of horizon scanning aimed at informing Member States, their health systems and budget holders, about upcoming technologies. Technologies that may have significant budget impact or other challenges to implementation should be a particular focus, to enable health care systems in Europe to adapt early.

“We want to pave the way for more patients having access to medicines that are right for them,” says Barbara Freischem, Executive Director of EBE. Tom Lillie, Amgen, Chair of the EBE Personalised Medicine Working Group adds “To achieve this, we need more flexibility in the way we invent, develop, approve, prescribe, reimburse and use medicines. This demands an unprecedented level of collaboration of everyone involved.“

The EBE White Paper on Personalised Medicine isavailable here.

Notes for editors

European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) represents the voice of biopharmaceutical companies of all sizes in Europe and is a specialised group within the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Established in 2000, EBE is recognised as the leading biopharmaceutical association in Europe.

European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), a specialised group of EFPIA

For further information please contact:

Barbara Freischem, Executive Director

European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises - EBE

Tel:+32 2 62 62 564

email:

European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), a specialised group of EFPIA