RABRE PROJECT
Project no.013043
Project acronym
RABRE
Project title
Resource Allocation to Brain Research in Europe
Instrument: Specific Support Action
Thematic Priority: FP6-2003-LIFESCIHEALTH-II
Publishable Final Activity Report
Period covered: from 01/01/2005 to 30/06/2006Date of preparation: 30/06/2006
Start date of project:01/01/2005Duration: 18 months
Project coordinator name: Mr. Jes Olesen
Project coordinator organisation name: European Brain Council
Publishable final activity report
1. Project execution
1.1Project Objectives
The project objectives were: to analyse the resources used for brain research (neuroscience) in Europe and to compare overall research efforts; to compare the size and allocation of funding for neuroscience in Europe with resource used in the United States of America; to assess the potential benefits in relation to costs of further efforts for brain research in Europe through several tests: a) to relate the total current funding for brain research in Europe with the total economic burden of brain diseases in Europe; b) to assess the value of brain research to health improvement and life expectancy in Europe; c) to asses the cost-effectiveness of further funding for brain research in Europe; to disseminate the above results to clinical and basic scientists, patients, politicians, other decision-makers and to people of Europe.
1.2Contractors involved
European Brain Council (EBC)
The European Brain Council is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Belgium. It is a coordinating council consisting of European wide organizations with an interest in brain research or brain diseases. The members are: The European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), The European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) representing European patients with a neurological disease, European Associations of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology (ECNP) an organization of biological oriented psychiatrists and basic scientists with an interest in psychiatry, Global Alliance for Mental Illness Associations Networks (GAMIAN Europe). In addition we have the pharmaceutical industry represented by GlaxoSmithKline, the device/biotech industry represented by Medtronic and the health insurance industry represented by Algemeine Orts Krankenkasse (AOK) Schleswig-Holstein branch. Very likely soon to join is the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS). For RABRE the EBC managed the overall project as well as provided data from the current cost of disorders of the brain in Europe (CDBE) project. Moreover, EBC has been in charge of the dissemination of the results from the RABRE project.
The coordinator, professor Jes Olesen, is president of the European Brain Council and past president of many organizations including the European Federation of Neurological Societies. He has extensive experience in organizing voluntary work and major research projects, and is partner in the so-called Eurohead project funded by the 6th framework programme.
Mrs. Evelyn Sipido is an experienced administrative officer, who has managed EBC for more than 2 years and before that has managed the branch office of the European Federation of Neurological Societies for 6 years. She has secretarial assistance as needed.
The EBC created an office in Brussels and hired a director with extensive experience in managing voluntary organizations, in planning and coordinating projects, finance management and in public relations work. This director was primary responsibility for coordinating the actions of the networks of professionals working on this project and on the organization of conferences and public events. The director also has been major responsibility for the dissemination of results to the political, administrative and public scene.
Stockholm Health Economics (SHE)
This SME was founded in 1995 by professor Bengt Jönsson from Stockholm School of Economics, and is a contract research company. The company has an extensive experience from designing, conducting and evaluating a wide range of economic evaluations and related studies in a wide range of disease areas. SHE has developed a leading edge in health economic modelling, within-trial analysis and cost-of-illness methods, and its prime audience is the scientific community, decision makers (especially reimbursement authorities) and internal decision makers in the pharmaceutical companies. SHE is a leading expert in the field in Europe and belongs to the companies: European Health Economics Group, a group of international consulting companies specializing in economic evaluation. Moreover, the SME has already performed a similar study in the field of cancer, in assessing the potential value of health to society of investments in a new therapeutic research (proton therapy). SHE has thus the expertise available for conducting the assessments necessary for the RABRE project. Moreover, a panel of leading health economic experts in the field of brain disorders in Europe has been put together for the purpose of RABRE, with extensive experience of advising on pan-European economic assessments of research.
1.3Work performed and end results
The RABRE project investigated the funding resources for brain research in Europe and assessed the potential benefits and costs related to neuroscience of further efforts for brain research in Europe in future.
The RABRE project analysed both private and public funding of brain research in Europe. Funding sources categorised according to function or disease target.
A cross-country comparison of results for Europe has been made, and these has been compared with results for the US and Japan, which are considered leaders in brain research. The project achieved the following objectives:
- To analyse the resources used for brain research (neuroscience) in Europe and to compare overall research efforts
- To compare the size and allocation of funding for neuroscience in Europe with resource used in the United States of America.
- To assess the potential benefits in relation to costs of further efforts for brain research in Europe through several tests:
- To relate the total current funding for brain research in Europe with the total economic burden of brain diseases in Europe
- To assess the value of brain research to health improvement and life expectancy in Europe
- To asses the cost-effectiveness of further funding for brain research in Europe
- To disseminate the above results to clinical and basic scientists, patients, politicians, other decision-makers and to people of Europe.
RABRE provided, for the first time ever, an analysis of brain research funding in Europe and a plan pointing to highly cost-effective areas for increased research efforts, by comparing the results with the cost of brain disorders resulting from an already existing study as well as extend the analysis to two other assessment methods.
This project was the first pan-European study comparing results on the cost of brain disorders with funding of research in the area; used different analytical assessment methods on the research frontier of economics and health economics in a European setting for the first time ever; analysed not only resource spending but also how resources provides insights into how research funding could be allocated in a more cost-efficient way; explored the potential of voluntary organizations to breach the gap between science and society and between science and decision makers.
For the SME participating (SHE), the project provided an opportunity to further extend the companies experience and competence not only in the field of health economics but also in the field of economics of research funding.
The RABRE project brought together economists and doctors, epidemiologists and basic scientists, patients and industry in order to formulate possible future research policies on the basis of state of the art analysed.
1.4The impact of the project on its industry or research sector
The project contributed to breaking down barriers between basic scientists, neurologists, psychiatrists, neurosurgeons, patients and health economists.
The present project contributed to increase understanding of the importance of new treatments for brain diseases and, hopefully, via stimulating the interest in brain research and via increased and focused (and efficient) funding for brain research helped to increase European competitiveness in this field.
1.5Methodology
For the brain research in Europe, two methods were used in the estimation of funding resources: one “bottom –up approach” for detailed estimations and a second “top-down approach” for validation reasons.
The bottom-up approach is a thorough method of estimating the total resources of funding by identifying and quantifying all detailed costs by disease area in brain disease by country.The data for the first approach was retrieved by disease on national levels in Europe.
The second approach: the top-down approach, aims at identifying the proportion of the total research expenses in Europe attributable to brain disease. Consequently this approach starts out from aggregated data. The data that was collected for the second approach are retrieved from international statistics. Data sources that was used are databases provided by: OECD, WHO, Worldbank, and the Eurostat.
For cost-effectiveness analysis of a broader area than a specific medical technological intervention, the methodology applied was fundamentally based on assessing the value of benefits of investing in medical research by constructing measures of the value of information.
1.6Project Website
A separate website for the project organized under the main EBC website and as much activity as possible will be interacted via this website.
2. Dissemination and use
Section 1 - Exploitable knowledge and its Use
Not applicable.
Section 2 – Dissemination of knowledge
The dissemination activities section should include past and future activities and will normally be in the form of a table maintained by the coordinator or any other person charged with controlling the dissemination activities.
Overview table
Planned/actualDates / Type / Type of audience / Countries addressed / Size of audience / Partner responsible /involved
June 2006 / Project web-site / Public / Europe / 1000 / EBC
June 2006 / Newsletters / Patient organisations / Europe / 100000 / EBC
July 2006 / Publications / Research / Europe / 10 000 / EJN
September 2006 / Conference / Research / Europe / 2000 / EFNS
October 2006 / Posters / Research / Europe / 1000 / ISPOR
The main results shall be presented at a seminar at the EFNS conference in Fall 2006.
The main source document shall be published in the European Journal of Neuroscience and 10000 copies shall be distributed to researchers, policy-makers, decision-makers and patient organisers.
The results from the RABRE project shall be announced on the EBC web-site including a popularised version of the results (
The main results shall be presented as a poster at the ISPOR conference, October 28-31 inCopenhagen, Denmark.
A Newsletter shall be produced announcing the results from the RABRE project, spread to all members of the European Brain Council.
Section 3 - Publishable results
Not applicable
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