ADAPT SMART project kicks off

ADAPT SMART, a coordination and support project funded under the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), kicked off on 4 September 2015 at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in London.

The acronym stands for “Accelerated Development of Appropriate Patient Therapies: a Sustainable, Multi-stakeholder Approach from Research to Treatment-outcomes”. Its aim is to establish a platform for the coordination of adaptive pathways (MAPPs) related activities within the IMI and engage in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders. Its outcomes will help inform future research agendas and approaches for the implementation of adaptive pathways.

Adaptive pathways seek to foster access to beneficial treatments for the right patient groups at the earliest appropriate time in a sustainable fashion. Essentially, MAPPs aim to balance early patient access with public health and societal benefits.

The ADAPT SMART consortium includes 32 partners representing patients, academia, regulators, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies, payers and industry. The project which is led by the EMA and coordinated by TI Pharma will run for 30 months. EPF plays an important role in three key work packages, focusing on patient involvement.

Anders Olauson, EPF president, said: “This project addresses an important gap in our knowledge regarding how to integrate patient evidence at different stages of the Research & Development process and in regulatory and HTA decisions. Through active involvement of patient organisations, we hope it will provide opportunities for better definition of patient preferences and help ensure that future MAPPs pathways are developed with patients’ needs front and centre.”

For more information contact Kaisa Immonen-Charalambous, Senior Policy Adviser, kaisa.immonen.charalambous@eu-patient.eu