At today’s EFPIA conference in Brussels, newly-appointed EFPIA President Stefan Oschmann, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Merck KGaA, set out his vision to drive medical innovation in Europe, unlocking the cures of tomorrow. In his role as EFPIA President, Stefan Oschmann succeeds Joseph Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis. 

Speaking at the conference Mr Oschmann said: “At EFPIA we believe strongly in a Healthier Future for Europe, a future built on innovation, on access to new treatments and on outcomes-focused healthcare. To turn that future into reality, we aim at positioning Europe as a leader in clinical research and will address the challenges around antimicrobial resistance. In addition, we need to ensure that the intellectual property framework enables investment into research and development.” Realising the potential of health data in shaping patient care and driving research will be another priority of the presidency. Oschmann emphasised that EFPIA will continue to work closely with governments and EU institutions to make innovative medicines affordable now and healthcare sustainable.

Over the next 5 years, new therapies will emerge, such as antibacterial monoclonal antibodies to target antimicrobial resistance, combination therapies for cancer, disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s, gene therapies against haemophilia, cell therapies against diabetes type 1 and CAR-T therapies targeting blood cancers. These innovative treatments have the potential to bring great benefits to patients and their families in terms of survival and quality of life, saving resources in healthcare systems and benefitting wider society with a healthier workforce.

Also speaking at the conference, new EFPIA Director General Nathalie Moll said: “To realise these benefits requires collaboration between all partners in European healthcare, to make therapies increasingly accessible and healthcare more sustainable, whilst securing future medical innovation.

“Harnessing the potential of health data to support outcomes-focused approaches affords a real opportunity to focus resources on the things that really matter to patients. That is why I am delighted to announce that over the next five years, EFPIA members are committing more than 12 million euros to the European Health Data Network. This investment will support the collaborative standardisation of, and access to health data, unlocking data sets all over Europe that will drive research and shape more effective patient care.”