From complexity to clarity: communicating the potential of personalised medicine to stakeholders in Europe

While there is general understanding among many stakeholders that personalised medicine will transform health care, there is little clarity as to the actual impact on health policies, the quality of clinical care, reimbursement and costs.  Due to the complexity of the transformation, there is a tendency to adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude under the assumption that the continued development of science and technology eventually will lift the fog surrounding the area.  However, since many of the challenges regarding personalised medicine are directly related to social interactions and communications, there are untapped opportunities for innovators in industry to proactively shape the future of personalised medicine.

Based on the rapidly changing landscape of health care globally and in Europe, I will present and discuss some thoughts on how the research-based industry can stimulate and lead discussions with policy-makers, the medical community, patient advocates and the media to take a more forward-looking approach and to drive a broader acceptance and adoption of personalised medicine utilising communications and stakeholder strategies.