Future-Proofing Medicines

IS THE WAY WE REGULATE MEDICINES “FUTURE-PROOF”?

A New Science|Business Initiative exploring the impact of cutting-edge scientific and health technology innovations on medicines regulation

S Y N O P S I S

Science|Business, Europe’s leading media and networking organisation specialised in research and innovation (R&I) policy, is convening a new multi-year, pan-European programme of high-level public events and reports to spur debate on how cutting-edge scientific and health technology innovations influence the way we regulate medicines and how they ultimately reach patients and citizens.

Our initiative builds on the success of our Healthy Measures project, which convened in-depth, multistakeholder dialogues in ten different countries between 2017 and 2020 to understand how measuring health outcomes, plus smarter use of patient data and digital technologies, could drive systemic innovation in both policy and practice.

R A T I O N A L E

New medical technologies, from cutting-edge oncology and immunotherapies to headline making mRNA and CRISPR gene editing, offer unprecedented opportunities to save lives and improve health outcomes. In parallel, artificial intelligence and the more systematic use of health data can improve the delivery of healthcare and medicines worldwide, the way we discover, develop and approve treatments. However, while we are making great scientific and technological advances, we also observe that too often the benefits of these innovations are not able to reach patients as the treatments are not affordable or accessible.

Over the past months we have watched medicines regulators worldwide meet the unprecedented challenges raised by COVID-19 vaccines. With more forward thinking, perhaps we could make the next crisis, less of a crisis. A “future-proof” approach is desirable. This is also recognised in the European Commission’’s new pharmaceutical strategy and a revision of the basic pharmaceutical legislation planned for the next year.

At Science|Business, we believe that this is a timely moment for independent, expert reflection on how to achieve this. As such, we are creating a programme of public events and reports over the next couple of years to inform and contribute to this debate –  starting  with  a  first  meeting  in Brussels and subsequently staging events in other national capitals.

O B J E C T I V E S

The central aims of the new initiative are twofold:

To promote an open, science-based, interdisciplinary dialogue between experts at the crossroads between regulatory science, medical science and data science.

To produce high quality reports and media content – editorials, blogs, podcasts, videos, etc. – which showcase expert opinions and analysis to audiences across Europe and beyond.

To achieve these, we are inviting a select group of leading universities, companies, and public- sector organisations to join a Steering Committee to help plan, execute and communicate the work.

Confirmed participants include Barcelona Supercomputing Center, EIT-Health, Imperial College London, Karolinska Institutet, University of Luxembourg, University of Tartu. Support for the initiative is provided by Bristol Myers Squibb, in association with the Science|Business Network.

In terms of expected contributions, we are asking each organisation to appoint a lead representative to take part in three Steering Committee meetings per year to identify and  mobilise  relevant colleagues on given topics (where appropriate), and to provide feedback on draft reports.

Download our Future Proofing Medicines Brochure.pdf