The full report study will be presented publicly along the year, first through a series of external meetings with European and National institutions and a publication in a peer-reviewed journal. We trust that this seminal work will serve as an evidence-based learning platform to provide vital insight and informed recommendations “from citizen to politician”.

This exhaustive study analyses patient access pathways to pharmaceutical drug-diagnostic companion products from a patient’s perspective in the 5 most populated EU countries (Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain). The objective is to identify factors impeding or facilitating patient access and to develop policy recommendations on the basis of the identified factors.

European patient access pathways are described and analyzed using a patient access framework. To this end, current relevant publications were reviewed (peer reviewed articles, company reports, presentations, abstracts from congresses) and 30 exploratory interviews with expert stakeholders were conducted to get up-to-date primary data from practitioners in the field. Furthermore, issues that countries have in common were generalized and discussed on a European level. Based on the identified facilitating and impeding factors for patient access, country specific as well as European recommendations for improved patient access post-approval are given.

The study was funded by an EPEMED educational grant to La Charité Institut für Sozialmedizin, Epidemiologie und Gesundheitsökonomie in Berlin and overseen by an editorial committee of Key Opinion Leaders and EPEMED members.

For more information, email us at contact@epemed.org