Personalised medicine and free trade ‘belong together’

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could benefit patients in both Europe and America, said Lilly Oncology Vice President International Timothy Cook in a speech in the Brussels European Parliament this week.

The dinner debate on EU-US trade talks (TTIP) was part of a two-day conference organised by the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine on 9-10 September.

Cook was preceded by hosting MEP Cristian Bușoi, who told the audience that: “What the European Union needs to do, without delay, is to create a regulatory environment which allows early patient access to novel treatments. We can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all model in a Europe of 500 million as it patently does not work.

“The European Parliament and the new Commission are in a unique position to push the health agenda forward and I believe we can work towards building a healthy and wealthy Europe – not only for our current 500 million citizens, but for generations to come.”

In his own speech, Lilly’s Cook highlighted that, in both continents, two key issues in the health arena are patient access to high-quality, personalised medicine and free trade.

He said: “At first glance, there may seem to be little in common between these issues. Few things sound more “local” and private than the care of patients. And few things sound more “global” and public than the negotiation of a free-trade agreement between countries or in this case between continents.

“Yet I firmly believe that the conclusion of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, while benefiting all Europeans and Americans in some way, would benefit patients in particular.”

Cook argued that: “At present, the simple fact is that neither the US nor the EU economies are growing. Unemployment is stubbornly high. We are feeling pressure from aging populations and rising health-care expenditures. In response, both of our economies need to create jobs and growth – enlarging the pipeline – and TTIP is a great way to do that.”

Focusing on one area, he said: “Health care market access and reimbursement remain in the purview of the EU member states. But TTIP could establish an important benchmark. Industry recommends a “pharmaceuticals annex” to TTIP similar to the one included in both the US and EU trade agreements with Korea, enshrining principles that reward innovation and promote fair, predictable and transparent processes for deciding which medicines patients can have access to.

“Certainly the biopharmaceuticals industry would benefit from a TTIP focused on these areas. But so would its hundreds of thousands of employees and suppliers in the EU. So would the cities and regions in which it operates. So would the universities, research hospitals, and other partners with whom it collaborates.

“And most of all,” he added, “so would patients if the continuous-innovation pipeline flows more rapidly and with a higher volume of improved, personalised treatments.”

Cook concluded by saying: “It is time for political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to push forward with TTIP negotiations and emphasise the role of free trade in improving health. Personalised medicine and free trade belong together.”

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