In particular, personalised medicine is being taken forward in initiatives such as the Horizon 2020 Strategy and the new International Consortium for Personalised Medicine; and its importance was underlined in the Council Conclusions of December 2015. The statutory social insurers address some of the challenges raised by personalised medicine, specifically personalised therapies, for patients and healthcare systems at large and outline their recommendations for maximising the potential benefits of personalised medicine while balancing the risks.

First and foremost, given the complexity of personalised therapies, it is essential that a robust and comprehensive market access scheme is in place at EU level. Secondly, in view of the high costs associated with personalised medicine, strong pricing and reimbursement policies are needed to ensure patient access to effective therapies as part of sustainable healthcare systems. Thirdly, data protection rules and protection of patients’ privacy need to be respected, while ensuring transparency of clinical data. Finally, patient empowerment through informed decision making is crucial to ensure a patient centred approach to the safe and effective use of personalised therapies.

Find more in the position paper and press release.