EU Commissioner Kyriakides: Regulation on Health Tech Assessment – what’s next

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our new EU rules on Health Technology Assessment is an another central pillar, in our construction of a strong European Health Union.

This framework has the potential to give EU patients quicker access to life saving medicines, such as new cancer drugs.

It will support both:

• Member States in taking timely and evidence-based decisions on patient access to medicines, and
• Technology developers by providing them with scientific advice to generate evidence on new health technologies.

Getting to where we are today has been a collective effort, that we can all be proud of.

It is the result of joint efforts and commitment from Member States, European Parliament, HTA bodies, stakeholders, and of course the European Commission.

As European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, I am truly heartened by the fact that all of us – all of you gathered in the conference today – have played our part in shaping European cooperation on HTA for the benefit of patients all across the European Union.

I thank all of you for the dedication and continuous effort you have shown.

Dear Friends,

Implementing the framework we achieved, is our next and most important task.

The next three years will be critical to ensure that what now exists in the EU statute book, will become reality.  

This journey will require the same strong spirit of cooperation and joint efforts by the Member State Coordination Group, the Commission, technology developers, patients, and experts from the scientific and clinical communities.

Important steps have already been taken.

All Member States have designated their institutions and representatives on the Member State Coordination Group, which held its first meeting yesterday.

Further work is now needed, to establish an inclusive Stakeholder Network and the development of implementing legislation and guidance documents.

You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about these next steps today, and to engage in important debates.

We want to hear from you about how we can strengthen our cooperation between now and 2025, when the Regulation becomes applicable.

I am convinced that, by working together, we can ensure that HTA Regulation delivers on its promise of giving patients across Europe better access to evidence-based healthcare and innovative technologies.

I wish you very productive discussions today.

Source – EU Commission