Evolving HTA frameworks to accelerate innovation

Innovation in the cancer treatment space offers great promise, but even when approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other national regulatory bodies, patients can still face protracted delays in accessing new treatments.    Uncertainties in the evidence base for pioneering therapies can lead to delays from health technology assessment (HTA) agencies and payers in securing reimbursement.    To accelerate progress here, HTA frameworks must evolve, says Clare Hague, Therapy Area Market Access Lead, Hematology at Janssen EMEA, speaking ahead of the upcoming eyeforpharma Barcelona 2020 conference. “We need to look beyond overall survival (OS) when assessing the efficacy of innovative cancer medicines,” says Hague. “This is because the demonstration of a survival benefit may not be feasible or practical in situations where we see step-changes in the clinical benefit of our medicines and patients are living for a very long time. This is especially the case when the aim of treatment is moving towards disease modification, interception and, in earlier stage disease, the promise of cure or long-term durable remission.  “Collectively, we must consider alternative endpoints and shift the focus away from static decision-making on the basis of data observed at a single point in time, towards iterative decision-making based on evolving information and knowledge over time.”  “To achieve this, trusted partnerships between all stakeholders need to be formed ...
Source: EyeForPharma - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news