New EU network could encourage work on orphan drugs
The European Commission wants to tighten up links between centres of expertise in rare diseases, in a move that could help pharma companies target the use of their orphan drugs.
The European Commission wants to tighten up links between centres of expertise in rare diseases, in a move that could help pharma companies target the use of their orphan drugs.
European Health Commissioner Androula Vassiliou said the Commission wanted to link up 10 centres of expertise in orphan drugs that operate independently in EU member states. She said a new referrals process across Europe could bring together information on patients and fragmented expertise.
If the centres share information on disease incidence, the commission believes that it could be easier for companies to recruit patients for their clinical trials, and to increase awareness of new treatment areas for orphan drugs. The existing centres of excellence include sites in Milan, Italy, Manchester, UK, and Paris, France.
"We have already spent Euro 248m (on rare diseases) in the sixth Framework Programme and more is provided in the upcoming seventh Framework Programme," said Vassiliou. "There is lot of scope to work on orphan drugs and I think we have to give incentives to pharmaceutical companies." Existing incentives including a waiver of fees for registration of new orphan drugs and 10 years" exclusivity for the first drug in a new class to market.
Anthoni Montserrat, a commission expert, believes a new system of referrals between the centres would create real synergies among pharmaceutical companies. "With more networking and availability of patients' data, it will be easier to develop research," he said.
The reference network of centres of expertise, in particular for rare diseases, is part of the legal mechanism of the proposed Commission Directive on the application of patient rights in cross-border healthcare, the commission said.
According to Vassiliou, the Commission would be investigating the incidence of rare diseases across Europe. "We will develop a European inventory of rare diseases and we will also take the lead in making sure that rare diseases get included in the international classification of rare diseases in the global health reference point," she said.
The Commission is hoping to draw-up legislative proposals on rare diseases by 2011.