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EAPM: Big plan on beating cancer set for big launch, coronavirus restrictions tighten

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Good morning, health colleagues, and welcome to the first update of the week from the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM). It is a big week for health in general next week, as from 3 February the European Commission will be officially publishing its EU Beating Cancer Plan and there are still questions whether the EU Beating Cancer Plan will address lung cancer screening sufficiently, writes EAPM Executive Director Dr. Denis Horgan.

Lung cancer – transformation in local and country with the support of EU policies needed.  

In Europe, lung cancer (LC), is far ahead as the leading cause of death from the disease, and causes more than 266,000 deaths each year - 21% of all cancer-related deaths. 

That's not quite as high as COVID's death rate in 2020, but these lung cancer deaths are not a one-off crisis that has provoked an unprecedented mobilization to bring it under control. EAPM is pushing very hard for an increased focus on lung cancer (LC), which needs a transformation in national care pathways as well as local and country policies. LC care receives high priority within only a few national health strategies. 

But it is largely up to the member states – incentivized by the European Union – to recognize that reorganization and reallocation of health-care resources are justified by the current massive costs to individuals and to society of the growing incidence of this type of cancer. These are key issues that should be taken into account as highlighted by the multistakeholder engagement that EAPM has undertaken. 

 Screening is the most obvious route to arresting this destruction of life and is a question of looking for cancer before a person has any symptoms. This can help find cancer at an early stage. When abnormal tissue or cancer is found early, it may be easier to treat. By the time symptoms appear, cancer may have begun to spread.  

The same is true for lung cancer.

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Over the past two decades the evidence has become overwhelming that screening can transform the fate of lung cancer victims. Disturbingly, however, EU member states still hesitate over its adoption, and it remains low on policy priorities nationally and at EU level. In consequence, funding for it, and reimbursement of screening services, remain patchy and inadequate, and it is not yet integrated satisfactorily into the healthcare system.

The tools are there to improve the situation. As EAPM has highlighted with its members to policymakers: "Efficacy is proven. Don't waste more time! Now we have all the evidence we could be blamed for doing nothing." 

The EU Beating Cancer Plan should address this unmet issue. 

EMA expert unimpressed by the EU's COVID trials

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has established dedicated task forces to deal with the scientific, regulatory and operational challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and initiated its business continuity plan. The aim of these measures is to safeguard the Agency's core activities related to the evaluation and supervision of medicines during the pandemic and to ringfence resources dealing with COVID-19.

However, the EMA’s Senior Medical Officer Hans-Georg Eichler has been unflinching in his assessment of the EU’s track record for clinical trials during the coronavirus pandemic: “When compared to other regions, the EU was not very successful in implementing large meaningful … trials for the COVID-19 medicines.” 

“If you look at what we have in terms of meaningful trial results, they come mostly from outside the current EU,” he added. 

If Europe wants to improve, Eichler said, it needs infrastructure and governance as well as funding for large, pan EU-trials. It also needs real world health-care data that can help answer questions, around, for example, the long term of vaccines and treatments. 

European Council president expresses doubt over vaccinating 70% by summer 

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, made his comments as the EU faces scrutiny over its slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines, weeks after Britain set the ball rolling. Speaking on Sunday (24 January), Michel told Europe1 radio: "There are difficulties in the production lines in the coming weeks and that will make the process more complex.But if we manage to mobilize the production lines, we may be able to succeed.It's going to be difficult.” The EU has not yet given the go-ahead to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

'More deadly' UK variant claim played down by scientists 

Scientists say signs a new coronavirus variant is more deadly than the earlier version should not be a "game changer" in the UK's response to the pandemic. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there is "some evidence" the variant may be associated with "a higher degree of mortality". But the co-author of the study the PM was referring to said the variant's deadliness remained an "open question". Another adviser said he was surprised Mr Johnson had shared the findings when the data was "not particularly strong". A third top medic said it was "too early" to be "absolutely clear".

Brazilian variant raises concerns 

Paul Hunter, professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, said he believed it’s likely that the Brazilian variant will also show increased resistance to antibodies. “We are likely to see gradual accumulation of variants that are more and more able to escape vaccine induced immunity and indeed naturally induced immunity,” Hunter said. 

Commission proposes tougher coronavirus travel restrictions 

The European Commission has proposed ramping up coronavirus restrictions for travelers within the bloc as well as those coming from third countries. On Monday, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said: “There’s an urgent need to reduce the risk of travel-related infections to lessen the burden on overstretched health systems.”  

Monoclonal antibodies 

A study in US nursing homes has shown for the first time that monoclonal antibodies, mass-produced in a laboratory, can protect people from developing symptomatic COVID-19. Their manufacturer, Eli Lilly, hopes these antibodies will provide an additional way to protect people at risk of serious disease from the pandemic coronavirus. But given the success of COVID-19 vaccines and their increasing availability, it’s not clear that the expensive and somewhat cumbersome intervention will be widely used. 

Both Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody and a similar two-antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals—famously used to treat former US President Donald Trump in October 2020—have already received emergency use authorization (EUA) as a therapeutic for those who have become infected and are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. So far, they are not widely used because they must be given early in infection and infused in a hospital or clinic. But now that they appear effective at preventing even mild disease, Eli Lilly plans to ask the US Food and Drug Administration to expand the EUA to include use as a preventive.

And that is everything from EAPM for now – have an enjoyable, safe week, stay well, and see you on Friday for more updates.

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