Europeans spotlight innovative funding and policies for cancer research
Cancer continues to rear its ugly head in Europe. This devastating disease not only plays havoc with people's lives, but also puts a major dent in the economy. Writing in the journal ecancermedicalscience, experts are calling on governments to take a stronger role in research through direct and indirect incentives, and are pushing for clear models for international public-private partnerships in cancer research. Entitled 'The Role of Funding and Policies on Innovation in Cancer Drug Development', the report highlights the importance of promoting innovating funding for health systems as well as of making adjustments in regulation. Officials and scientists recognise that environmental and lifestyle factors, as well as ageing populations continue to fuel the incidence of cancer in Europe. Latest data predict that the number of people diagnosed with cancer will reach 15 million within the next 10 years. Despite the immense improvement in cancer treatments in recent years, especially advanced biological treatments and surgical techniques, we are still in the early stages of understanding how complex cancer is, on both a molecular and genetic basis. The authors of the report recommend that national and EU policies aiming to quash this disease should work to remove the obstacles that hinder this objective. 'While Europe has considerably increased its funding since 2004, funding still appears fragmented, with duplication in some areas and insufficiencies in others,' explained Dr Panos Kanavos from the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the UK, a co-author of the report. 'Moreover, despite efforts at the national level to promote public-private partnerships in cancer research, we found that surprisingly little thought has been given to the nature of international public-private partnerships in cancer research, a method we believe could significantly improve research. There is also a need for a holistic regulatory approach to foster innovation in the area of oncology.' In their report, the experts highlight how oncology research and development (R&D) has the highest failure rate for new molecular entities (NMEs) and higher development costs even though it has gained momentum since 2005. The experts target the mapping of current oncology R&D funding and management, both in Europe and the United States, and investigate existing oncology R&D strategies, oncology innovation policies, and public-private partnerships. LSE Professor Richard Sullivan, a member of the European Cancer Research Managers Foundation and Kings Health Partners Integrated Cancer Centre, said: 'In addition, to create a more conducive environment for drug development we'll require the right mix of incentives for innovation, an enhanced role for government with regard to incentives as well as a rethink of how regulation works and how systems of pricing and reimbursement operate.' The EU is a staunch supporter of oncology research and has provided key funding for various projects under the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7 respectively). Past and present work will drive cohesiveness in oncology research across Europe.
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