31 January 2018 - The European Commission proposed on Wednesday joint clinical assessments to determine whether approved new drugs and medical devices offer value for money and should be prescribed for patients within national healthcare systems.

The joint action, set to take more than three years to enter into force, would replace a largely national approach to health technology assessment that duplicates work, limits transparency and impedes market access for innovation.

The Commission’s plans aim to make better use of available resources, to have a consistent methodology and to improve business predictability in a healthcare sector accounting for some 10 percent of the EU’s economic output.

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