MADRID, 16 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Association of Biocompanies (AseBio) has positioned, on the last day of its Health Innovation Forum, in collaboration with Amgen, precision medicine as one of the greatest opportunities to improve the health system.
“We live in the best time that mankind has ever experienced on this planet. Life expectancy has increased like never before and this is due to innovation and technology. Therefore, and to reduce current mortality, we need health, science, innovation, translation and solidarity systems. Events like today are the key to knowledge generation and the whole of humanity is convened, “said Pedro Alonso, director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Malaria Program.
The central element that has been debated throughout the day is the abysmal importance of data and information, both for regulatory systems and for patients to receive treatment. Speakers stressed that the pandemic is an excuse to review the strategy that has been achieved so far and put the most urgent needs on the table.
All experts were convinced and agreed: it will be an opportunity. One of the main objectives, according to Biosim CEO Encarna Cruz, is to combine innovation and sustainability and reduce the tension between this partnership, because, in her opinion, it will be an opportunity for patients and countries.
For his part, the director of the Department of Relations with the Autonomous Communities of Farmaindustria, Jose Ramón Luis-Yagüe, also stressed the need for equity in accessibility, because not all patients, depending on where they live, have the same opportunities.
“This strategy is absolutely urgent. Research and development in Europe has weakened. It has led processes with more than 50% of the projects under its charge, but today it has lost 30 points. For Spain, this continues to be an opportunity,” he said. he said. completed.
Similarly, Reig Jofré’s global head of pipeline innovation and management, Isabel Aamat, a company that has just been selected to manufacture Johnson & Jonhson COVID-19 vaccine on a global scale, has focused on sustainability and proven positive. “Everything is going where we need to go, that is, to strengthen and make this strategic sustainability to reach a solid and clean industry. We are an example and we must be responsible,” he stressed.
Thanks to precision medicines, the response rate for cancer treatments reaches 30.6 percent, compared to 4.9 percent for traditional treatments, and a much faster diagnostic response can be given.
The progress of biomedical research has generated greater knowledge of changes in the genome responsible for disease, but also requires changes in structures and new funding models, as discussed on Wednesday.
“Precision medicine focuses on an individual and requires a very specific outcome. The process by which we decide and think carefully about what we call innovation is important. We must avoid approximations,” said Carlos San Carlos, Deputy Director of Health Institute Research and Development. III, Cristóbal Belda.
For her part, Enriqueta Felip, Vice President of SEOM and Medical Oncologist at Vall d’Hebrón University Hospital, reminded that Spain has a strategic role in precision medicine and has been a pioneer in many fields. “But we have many challenges to continue to make progress,” he added.
Finally, the Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Government of Navarre, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, delivered this speech. “In the development of personalized therapies we have to play a key role. Precision medicine must start from the fact that information about patients must be available and we are going very slowly there,” he said.
He also reiterated the need to strengthen the management of administrations and called for greater agility so that pharmacogenetics, crucial for improving patient data and information, can enter the system. “We need to equip ourselves with adequate infrastructure, training in precision medicine and give voice to the dissemination and participation of patients. It must be a common task,” he concluded.