The European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises - EBE - is delighted to participate in the High Level Conference “Making Access to Personalised Medicine a Reality for Patients” organised by the Luxembourg Presidency on 8 July in Luxembourg.

Putting the patient at the centre of the discussions, the Luxembourg Presidency has made personalised medicine one of its health policy presidency priorities.

EBE highly welcomes this initiative. Personalised medicine aims at delivering the right medicine to the right patient at the right time, targeting treatments to patients that are most likely to benefit from them. This is very much in contrast to the traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach to medicines development and prescription.  Personalised medicine leads to improved clinical outcomes and better quality of life for patients, and it offers tremendous potential savings to the European struggling healthcare system.

However, a lot still needs to be done. During the Luxembourg Presidency, EBE will contribute to the discussions initiated during the high-level conference. In particular, EBE members see the need for greater investment in e-health and big data infrastructure, as well as the need for effective regulatory science and access mechanisms for the benefit of patients. We, at EBE, believe that it is a top priority to establish data privacy and protection laws, which effectively protect patients while at the same time making pan-European research initiatives possible. EBE will continue to provide input to the discussions on the revision of the IVD Medical Devices Regulation to ensure access to reliable methods for correct diagnosis.

Many of the components needed to make the personalised medicine approach a reality for the patient do not require a change in the law, so much as a change in mind-set. EBE Executive Director Barbara Freischem said: “Implementing personalised medicine will require an unprecedented level of collaboration between industry, patients, regulators, prescribers and payers to embrace innovation and support more flexibility in the way we develop, approve, prescribe and reimburse medicines. Together we must address the challenges of personalised medicine to accelerate medical advancement in the EU and ensure sustainability in our healthcare systems whilst enhancing patient lives.“