The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU wishes to stress that the Union must urgently promote research and development in the field of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), according to its draft conclusions on a ‘Call for action on life sciences for the Union’s competitiveness’, published on Wednesday 27 August.
At the beginning of July, the European Commission proposed to use its funding programmes to stimulate the acquisition of innovations through specific calls for projects, with a budget of around €300 million (see EUROPE 13672/3).
In the text, the Presidency welcomes the initiative to create a network of European centres of excellence in the field of ATMPs, building on existing European and national networks and projects. It suggests “calling on the Commission to ensure a transparent selection process and to keep the network inclusive and open”.
In addition, it stresses that multinational and multicentre clinical trials are among the best solutions for facilitating the recruitment of patients while respecting gender equality, providing solid clinical data in good time and guaranteeing early and equitable access to innovative therapies for patients in the Member States. “Such trials also ease the uptake of new and existing treatments and technologies in the national health services without unnecessary delays, as they facilitate the assessment by regulatory agencies and Health Technology Assessment bodies”, it reads.
Denmark also proposes to advocate for “a more proactive use of public innovation procurement in the life sciences sector to boost innovative markets”. This is why it is looking forward to the upcoming strategy on research and technology infrastructures for which the Commission launched a call for evidence in April (see EUROPE 13628/10).
Finally, the Presidency praises the Commission’s proposal to create a repertoire of tools and best practices to improve scientific communication and measure public awareness.
The draft conclusions will be examined at the meeting of the EU Council’s Research Working Party on Thursday 4 September.
Read the draft conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/i6b (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)