Innovation in pharma
Revision of orphan and paediatric drug framework needed, say reports
Both the European Parliament and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have reiterated the need to update the regulations on medicines for children and orphan drugs, in order to better address unmet needs of children and adolescents in cancer care.
Commission: Pharma companies need incentives to develop orphan drugs
The market will not regulate itself when it comes to finding solutions to rare diseases, said Sandra Gallina, director at the European Commission’s DG SANTE, adding there is pressure to kickstart innovation on orphan drugs.
€2.4 bn ‘Innovative Health Initiative’ to better address current health issues
The public-private partnership ‘Innovative Health Initiative’ (IHI), built on the 14 years of experience from the previous ‘Innovative Medicines Initiative’(IMI), expands its scope, focusing less directly on pharmaceuticals and more broadly on health care.
MEPs call for the EU pharma strategy to address medicine shortages
MEPs adopted a draft report on Tuesday (12 October) aimed at strengthening the EU's pharmaceutical strategy to ensure every patient has reliable and timely access to medicines, as shortages have been increasing since 2000. EURACTIV France reports.
Pharma rules overhaul steals scene of EU’s 2022 health agenda
The revision of the legislative framework of pharmaceuticals and of medicines for children and rare diseases will drop the curtain on next year's Commission agenda as they are expected to be adopted in December 2022.
EU action to turn the AMR tide looks at different incentive models
EU policymakers are being urged to consider the full range of new incentive systems and pilot innovative approaches to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including Netflix-style subscription services and pull incentives.
Time to put healthcare at the heart of the digital age
European healthcare stands at a crossroads. It is time to fully embrace AI and digital technology, argues Jan-Philipp Beck.
Antimicrobial resistance – a silent pandemic requiring global action now
If policymakers fail to address the challenge of antimicrobial resistance they risk seeing the rise of a silent pandemic, write Stella Kyriakides and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
MEP: Parliament will pressure Commission to focus on nanomedicines
The European Parliament will put pressure on the Commission and the member states to provide the necessary regulatory framework for nanomedicines in order to better make use of their potential for patients, EU lawmaker Pietro Fiocchi told EURACTIV in an interview.
EU ponders new incentives for novel antibiotics
The European Commission will examine specific incentives and a new pricing system to develop innovative antibiotics in its pharmaceutical strategy, in a bid to take a more ambitious stance against the rising threat of anti-microbial resistance (AMR).
EU leaked pharma strategy pushes innovation for a resilient Europe
Affordability, availability and sustainability are the main focus points of the EU’s new pharmaceutical strategy, due to be published on Wednesday (25 November).
COVID-19 further complicated ‘biggest cancer killer’ diagnosis
There is an urgent need for specific recommendations over lung-cancer screening at the highest political levels in order to detect early and tackle lung cancer, the “biggest killer cancer”, stakeholders have said.
Economist: ‘Premature’ to decide changes in Orphan Drugs law
Europe needs to give EU Orphan Drugs regulation more time to show its effectiveness before reviewing the incentives it provides and putting pharma innovation to the test, economist Adam Hutchings told EURACTIV in an interview.
Innovation and patients at the core of EU orphan drugs law review
The EU's Orphan Regulation was introduced in 2000 and its main objective was to address the challenge of regulating medicines which treat an estimated 30 million patients with rare diseases across the EU.
Report: Without orphan drugs law, 2mn patients deprived access to therapies
In the absence of the EU orphan drugs regulation, which focuses on rare diseases, approximately two million patients would not get access to therapies, a new industry-funded report has found.
Commission urged to consider common regulatory framework for nanomedicines
The lack of a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework on nanomedicines and their “generics” poses risks for the safety of EU patients and this is something that the European Commission should urgently look at, EAASM has said.
Poor investment in digitising health hit Europe back with COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded Europe that its piecemeal approach to investing in the digitisation of health systems comes at a cost, but not all countries and policymakers have yet learned the lesson, the chairman of the European Connected Health Alliance told EURACTIV.
COVID-19: Time to show citizens that they can count on Europe
European citizens have been exemplary in their fight against COVID 19. They have bravely overcome an acute sanitary threat and paid the high economic, social and psychological price of the lockdown, write a group of European lawmakers.
Early stakeholder dialogues crucial for success of rare orphan medicines
Early dialogue between stakeholders is crucial for the effective development and success of rare orphan drugs, used to treat patients with rare diseases, Anna Bucsics, project adviser at the mechanism of coordinated access to orphan medicinal products (MoCA), told EURACTIV in an interview.
Taking action on the global threat of superbugs
COVID-19 has demonstrated in a quite dramatic way the huge impact of a global threat on public health and economy. While the COVID-19 crisis took us by surprise, our world faces a silent threat that is predictable and preventable, writes Hubertus Von Baumbach, the CEO of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim.
MEP: A common EU tool to incentivise production and availability of orphan drugs
When it comes to rare diseases and 'orphan drugs', technology is there to support an “objective” EU tool that could provide the pharma industry with the necessary incentives to research and produce orphan drugs and simultaneously avoid exhausting ailing health systems, MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos told EURACTIV in an interview.
Reviewing orphan drugs law: A tough equation
The Orphan Regulation was introduced in 2000 and its main objective was to address the challenge of regulating medicines which treat patients with rare diseases. Around 246,000 people suffer from such diseases across the EU, The European Commission is expected...
Commission’s ‘risky’ move to re-visit orphan drugs regulation
The European Commission is expected to present by the end of July an evaluation study on the pros and cons of the application of orphan and paediatric regulations, which deal with a niche segment of rare diseases that affect fewer than five in 10,000 people.