Personalised medicine, diagnostics and the great ‘value’ debate

By European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director Denis Horgan

Patients are overwhelmingly in favour of the use of cutting-edgeBy European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director Denis Horgan companion diagnostics that can tell them what diseases they have and may get in the future, and the best way to treat them, while payers and lawmakers are much more cautious when weighing cost against ‘value’.

This became clear on a busy and constructive Wednesday this week (25 February), when the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine – EAPM – ran two well-attended, high-level workshops, close to the Brussels seat of the European Parliament, in the presence of a European Commissioner, several MEPs and stakeholders from across the health spectrum.

A morning gathering focused on perceptions of the value of diagnostics, while a later meeting addressed some of the aspects of where personalised medicine is going in the EU, where it needs to be, and how it can get there.

Among the speakers and attendees at the two meetings were Phil Hogan, European Commissioner on behalf of the Commission - in particular Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis - David Byrne, former EU Health Commissioner plus MEPs Cristian Busoi, Philippe De Backer, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Elisabeta Gardini and Alojz Peterle as well as representatives from the European Institute of Oncology, the Access Partnership, the European Federation of Nurses Associations, Astra Zeneca; EDMA, the European Association of Urology, Europa Uomo, the Bulgarian National Patients’ Organisation, and the National Health Service of Scotland.

Companion diagnostics are complex but critical for the appropriate prescription of personalised therapies. Personalised healthcare is a rapidly growing field that aims to provide the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.

Companion diagnostics help doctors and patients to select a treatment or even exclude a treatment and assist with the decision between several therapeutic strategies.

The workshop showcased the differing views – in part obtained from an EAPM cross-stakeholder survey that included patients – as part of a critical discussion on the future of companion diagnostic access and innovation in Europe.

The attendees heard that to understand ‘value’ one must first understand a product and consider what it can provide, weighed against cost and other considerations. These in vitro diagnostic tests give vital information to a medical professional regarding the likelihood of a patient responding to, or benefiting from, a specific treatment.

There is a reason why the phrase “prevention is better than cure” is so well known – and personalised medicine goes a long way towards addressing this. EAPM believes that earlier diagnostics and earlier treatment has many benefits, among them fiscal, because while cost is a major issue – and there are key questions about the cost-effectiveness of new and even existing treatments – better diagnostics will ease the burden on health care systems and lead to a healthier and, thus, wealthier, Europe.

During the last few years, EAPM has worked with its membership to engage patients, payers, policymakers, academia, and industry to examine various approaches to value assessment.

The Alliance believes that the case for prevention as treatment – as well as treatment as prevention – is overwhelming in a Europe struggling to deal with the demands that a population of 500 million is putting on health-care systems.

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