In an effort to move from words to concrete actions, WHO/Europe’s Novel Medicines Platform (NMP) has just convened its first-ever regional meeting, bringing together its working groups and major stakeholders to find consensus around key issues and move forward with concrete policy recommendations.
Held at WHO/Europe in Copenhagen on 2–3 July 2024, patients, payers, Member States and industry representatives met to discuss progress made so far.
Some of the issues tackled include the intersection of risks and rewards in regional and global pharmaceutical markets, horizon scanning (which aims to identify upcoming health technologies, medicines, and therapies before they enter the market, so policy-makers can be better prepared), and pooled procurement, among others — all, ultimately, with the main objective of improving people’s access to these life-saving, though often prohibitively expensive, medicines.
“Countries in the WHO European Region have raised serious concerns about medicine shortages, rising prices and the impact of medicines on health-care budgets. Health-care budgets are stretched even further, and too many families are facing a cost-of-living crisis and dealing with out-of-control inflation,” said WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge.
Consensus in an open, transparent forum
Recent years have seen significant progress made in biopharmaceutical research. Advancements in the fields of prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of many diseases have taken place thanks largely to investments in both the public and private sectors.
At the same time, there is growing concern among governments about the steep prices of promising novel medicines. These high costs, particularly worrisome for smaller countries in the Region, have widened existing inequalities and resulted in people’s inability to access treatments and, in many cases, financial distress.
Established in 2023 as a unique, multistakeholder collaboration mechanism to promote dialogue and knowledge exchange between all stakeholders in the area, the NMP is working to tackle these challenges. It does so by working across 4 key areas, or working groups: transparency, solidarity, sustainability, and novel antimicrobials.
The gathering in Copenhagen was held in the spirit of openness, transparency and solidarity, with all participants sharing their views, concerns and aspirations for what should follow next when it comes to ensuring people’s access to these medicines.
During the 2 days in Copenhagen, representatives from WHO/Europe’s Small Countries Initiative – the 12 smallest Member States in the Region – met separately to discuss some of the challenges specific to small countries, such as shortages of essential medicines, the lack of negotiating and buying power, and difficulties in accessing expensive novel medicines.
“It’s clear to all of us gathered here that the current situation is not serving the best interests of patients, funders or producers, and that change is inevitable. I believe that this is the first main takeaway of the process we have conducted together so far,” concluded Dr Kluge.
About the NMP
The NMP began its work in early 2023, following an agreement by the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region, and building on the work of the Oslo Medicines Initiative 2020–2022. To date, the NMP includes 50 Member States and 49 non-State actors and other partners. These stakeholders have provided nominations to participate in the 4 time-limited working groups, which are expected to finalize their recommendations by December 2025.