Registration now open for EAPM Presidency conference on Access, Innovation and Incentives to tackle cancer in Madrid, 19-20 October

Greetings all! Registration is now open for our upcoming EAPM Presidency conference which will be held from October 19th – 20th in Madrid entitled ‘Access, Innovation and Incentives: power for civilisation to tackle cancer’, writes European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director, Denis Horgan.

Please find the link here to register and the agenda here.

This will be the 11th year in succession that EAPM will be organizing a conference on the sidelines of the prestigious ESMO Congress. In the same way as our recent events, the focus will be on bringing innovation into healthcare systems, but with very specific focus on advanced molecular diagnostics, liquid biopsies, EU regulatory frameworks and the upcoming EU elections

The Presidency conference is done in collaboration with the Spanish National Cancer Research Center – CNIO.  A key role of the conference is to bring together experts to agree policies by consensus and take our conclusions to policy makers. And this time, we go even further into the realm of expertise, given the upcoming EU elections and the renewal of the European Commission in 2024. 

Sessions will cover topics such as genome sequencing and Real World Evidence, biomarkers and value, innovation and genomics, future proofing in personalised healthcare with case studies from Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the UK), and with a focus on EU funded project such as CAN.HEAL project.  

CAN.HEAL, a programme funded by the EU, is driving a radical commitment to collaborate across disciplines and territories not just to advance innovation, but to bring it speedily into effective use in healthcare systems.  The novelty of CAN.HEAL is that it is creating unprecedented connections between the world of clinical science and the world of public health. It is aiming to provide a bridge between two flagships of the European Beating Cancer Plan –’Access and Diagnostics for All’ and ‘Public Health Genomics’ – so that cutting-edge developments in preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer become available faster and more widely.

Sessions will feature panel discussions as well as time for questions and answers and we would very much like you to join us at the event, from 09.30 on Oct 19th to 15.30 CET on Oct 20th. 

Every stakeholder in personalised medicines knows what the drivers of this innovative new form of healthcare are. For patients and healthcare professionals it means more options, durable clinical benefit, reduced exposure to non-effective drugs and the potential to leverage current scientific and technological advances.

For the pharmaceutical industry, we’re talking about the potential to tackle core challenges in discovering and developing more effective medicines, to reduce rates of attrition in drug development, and to reduce the associated escalating costs which are central to a more sustainable future and delivery for healthcare needs.

Meanwhile, for healthcare systems and payers, the drivers are improved efficiency through the provision of efficacious and cost-effective care through the avoidance of ineffective and redundant interventions. These are again key to a more sustainable and deliverable future system. 

The question of whether innovation is really giving us value for money often arises. The debate has focussed to a large extent on the cost of “doing something” – the spiralling cost of developing drugs, the extra cost of providing innovative diagnostics, and the hidden costs of supportive care.

Yet surely we also need to remember to ask ‘what about the cost of not doing something?

Diagnostic and therapeutic innovation must be implemented in a structured cost-effective approach that emphasises measurable improvements in outcome for the patient in the personalised healthcare era. 

Resources are scarce for all of us working in healthcare, which is exacerbated by an ageing population and the consequent increase in chronic diseases and co-morbidities.

It’s very clear that resourcing and pricing issues must be addressed in a tangible and transparent fashion to ensure best value in the delivery of optimal quality care for patients, now and as we go forward.”

In the same way that many patients can require a combination of treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy, medicines, and targeted therapies, as well as supportive care to achieve long term cure, so the healthcare policy solutions that evolve must reflect the needs out there.

The above are just an example of the huge topics, among many up for discussion on the day. So be sure to join us on Oct 19th and Oct 20th in Madrid. 

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, and we hope to see you in Madrid

To view the agenda, please click here and to register, please click here.

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