20 October 2016 - Dr Jacoline Bouvy, Scientific Adviser – IMI ADAPT-SMART, discusses how to bring new drugs to patients faster.

It can take many years after the discovery of a new drug before it becomes available to patients. This is because strict rules require pharmaceutical companies to demonstrate that a new drug works and is safe. The EMA and the MHRA then decide whether there is enough evidence to enable them to license the drug. After that, individual countries decide whether or not the new drug should be available within its publicly-funded healthcare system.

Although this process is robust, it can also be time-consuming. For patients who have serious, life-threatening diseases with no treatments yet available, having to wait for an effective medicine can have serious consequences.

So is there a better way? Organisations from across Europe, including NICE, have been looking together at ways to improve the pathway for getting new drugs to patients. In particular, NICE has been actively involved in the EMA’s ‘adaptive pathways’ pilot that began in 2014.

Read NICE blog article