INCA Executive Director Teodora Kolarova brought the cancer patient perspective at the insightful workshop on “Clinical Research in Central and Eastern Europe: New Approaches for the Next Level of Development”, organized by Cancer Drug Development Forum (CDDF) on April 15th-16th, 2024, in Krakow, Poland, and online.
This multi-stakeholder workshop brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to facilitate dialogue and collaboration on improving clinical research in CEE.
Teodora Kolarova mapped the current state of patient access to innovative drugs in oncology in Bulgaria. She noted that although the number of treated cancer patients globally has grown by 5% over the past 5 years, the pace of bringing novel cancer therapies to patients remains uneven in the EU countries.
It is estimated that in the coming decade cancer patients will increase by 68%. “It is of utmost importance that all patients in need get access to the drugs with high clinical value as soon as possible”, highlighted Teodora Kolarova in her presentation. She emphasized that further efforts should be placed to explore the potential role of adaptive pathways and joint HTA-EMA procedures in assuring timely and equal access to oncology medicines in the European Union.
INCA Executive Director and Dr Birgit Wolf (Bayer, DE) co-chaired the panel discussion on innovative concepts in CEE, featuring Dr Piotr Rutkowski (President of the Polish Society of Oncology, PL), Dr Grzegorz S. Nowakowski (Mayo Clinic, US), Olga Kholmanskikh (FAMHP, BE), Dr Susan Bhatti (Merck Healthcare, NL).
The experts highlighted that a move towards a decentralized model of delivering care and conducting clinical trials is needed. Efficiency should be increased by avoiding unnecessary duplication or repetition of unsuccessful trials. Introducing patient-centered approach to methodologies and mandatory involvement of patients/representatives in the assessment process are of key importance. The barriers in cross-border clinical trials processes should be lowered to facilitate access for patients from different countries.
