Promote R & D, ensure access and measure results, keys to the future in oncological drugs
Source: actasanitaria.com
During a debate at the 7th Forum of the Foundation for Excellence and Quality of Oncology (ECO) held in Madrid, the president of Farmaindustria, Martín Sellés, has pointed out as a key to the future in oncological medicines the promotion of R & D, ensure access and measure health outcomes.
According to the information consulted by the employers of the pharmaceutical industry, Spain is in the leading group in the field of clinical research in Oncology in Europe and its citizens have access to the vast majority of therapeutic innovations in this field in a solidarity-based health model in universality, quality of care and sustainability.
However, factors such as the increase in the incidence of cancer, the advance of chronicity and the progressive aging of the population, together with the appearance of new disruptive therapies, “make it necessary to propose a new vision that guarantees the quality of the provision and reinforce the current model in the future “, emphasizes Farmaindustria.
In this sense, numerous studies have shown that it is key to consider innovative medicine as an investment, and not as a mere expense in the short term, since it not only satisfies an immediate need but also provides numerous benefits over the years.
Transcend the short term
For this reason, Martin Sellés stressed that “the time has come to measure the health outcomes of innovations, and that implies doing so with a broad vision that transcends the short term (budget) and considers all this health, economic and social value. that they provide, and that it must be essential to determine its financing by the Health Administration. ”
These elements, together with a firm commitment to biomedical R & D, are “some of the keys to the future to reinforce innovation in Oncology in Spain, guarantee patients’ access to new therapies and ensure equity and quality of care.” the health and life benefit in the country “, highlights the employer’s association.
On Oncology, Farmaindustria notes that “it is currently the therapeutic area subject to greater investments in R & D by the pharmaceutical industry in Spain, which has greatly increased its effort in this area to account for 49 percent of the total of clinical research, compared to 28 percent in 2004 “, as reflected in the BEST Project data of excellence in clinical research.
On the other hand, Sellés downplayed “alarmist messages that arise from time to time about the possibility that the arrival of innovation compromises the sustainability of the health system” and stressed that “until now, there has been broad access to medicines of last generation, also anti-tumor, at a sustainable cost “.
Public expenditure on medications
In this line, the president of Farmaindustria insisted that public spending on medicines in 2018 “was in the environment of 2010? and estimated the growth in the coming years at approximately 2 percent per year, something “possible because, while innovations arrive, patents also fall, with consequent savings”.
In Europe, anti-cancer drugs account for approximately 35 percent of health spending in Oncology. The remaining 65 percent corresponds to the hospital costs of patient care, which include other interventions and Primary Care.
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