The overall, currently fully achieved, aim of 3D-NEONET project was to improve treatment options for cancer and blindness, while enhancing EU capability and knowledge-sharing in drug discovery, drug development and drug delivery to address unmet medical needs in these 2 disease areas.
More than 300 million people worldwide suffer from vision impairments. The European Forum Against Blindness (EFAB) reported that eye disease significantly reduces a person’s quality of life and creates a multi-billion-euro burden on European economies. In the seven European countries studied (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Great Britain) the economic burden of blindness amounted to ~€7,000,000,000. In these countries, ~3.8 million Europeans suffer from glaucoma, ~2.8 million from wet age-related macular degeneration and ~1.8 million from diabetic retinopathy. Poor vision is associated with lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, gender (more prevalent in women) and age. Ocular disease places a direct economic burden on European countries of ~€20 billion. Therefore, cost-effective interventions (e.g. screening and treatments) to overcome the individual and societal impact of vision loss are needed.
The global cancer observatory, GLOBOCAN, estimated 19.3 million new cases and 10 million cancer deaths in 2020. As cancer incidence and mortality grow, global cancer control is a priority. The WHO estimates cancer is responsible for 1 in 6 deaths, and incidence will grow to 29 million by 2040. Lung cancer is the principal cause of cancer death among males and breast cancer remains the main cause of cancer death among females. Other prominent causes of cancer death include colorectal (males/females) and prostate cancer among males. In Europe, cancer healthcare costs ~€57 billion and productivity losses due to morbidity and death are ~€10 & ~€47 billion annually, respectively. The majority of new therapies cost ~€5,000 per patient/month, and usually the cost-effectiveness ratios surpass commonly recognized thresholds – an unjustifiable trend
