GENOVA (ITALPRESS) – The conference “Measuring the value of innovation – From the evaluation of the drug to health outcomes”, organized by the Italian Agency of the Pharmaco (AIFA) with the patronage of the Liguria Region. The initiative has constituted a new stage of the path of institutional meetings that AIFA is carrying out in the different Italian regions in order to consolidate the dialogue between the Agency, the territorial institutions and all the subjects involved in the governance of the drug. The meeting of Genoa brought together the main protagonists of the health system around a shared reflection on one of the most important issues for the evolution of the policies of the drug: the need to develop increasingly advanced models of evaluation of innovation, considering not only the clinical effectiveness of the drugs, but also their concrete impact on the life of patients, on the organization of assistance and on the overall sustainability of the National Health Service.
Particular attention has been paid to the delicate balance between innovation and sustainability, two closely connected dimensions that must find a synthesis in the strategies of development and government of pharmaceutical assistance. Measuring the value of innovation correctly means being able to direct public decisions towards investments capable of producing lasting benefits for citizens and for the National Health Service.
The day, moderated by journalist Tiziana Oberti, opened with the greetings of Massimo Nicolò, Councillor for Health of the Liguria Region, Cristina Lodi, Councillor for the Welfare, Social Services, Families, Third Age and Disability of the Municipality of Genoa and Marcello Gemmato, Undersecretary of State to the Ministry of Health.
“We are very happy that AIFA has chosen Genoa for this appointment. The evaluation of innovative drugs is a strategic question: pharmaceutical spending is an important item of the health budget, but we can not stop at the cost of therapy – it has emphasized the Councillor for Health of Liguria Region Massimo Nicolò -. We must also consider the results it produces on people’s lives: today the drugs allow, in many cases, not only to survive longer, but to live better, also thanks to the possibility of controlling pathologies that in the past had much more limited perspectives. This means improving the quality of life and can also help reduce other costs, direct and indirect, related to the disease. For a region like Liguria, where longevity is a structural figure, being able to count on increasingly targeted and personalized therapies is fundamental. I thank the undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato and the president of AIFA Robert Nisticò, for the presence in Genoa and for the contribution to an important comparison between national and regional institutions”.
“In these four years of government we have worked to improve pharmaceutical governance, with the aim of better programming resources, ensuring access to care and addressing the new challenges posed by innovation and increasing chronicities, maintaining sustainable the National Health Service,” said the Undersecretary Gemmato. “A commitment that the Ministry of Health and AIFA carry out together, to ensure that everyone has ever more fair and timely access to therapies, including the most innovative ones. In this context, the meetings on the territory promoted by the Agency represent important opportunities for direct confrontation with the Regions, to listen to the needs of the different territorial contexts and to identify adequate responses to the health needs of the population”.
In the introduction to the work, AIFA President Robert Nisticò said: “We cannot consider the cost of a drug without evaluating its impact and the concrete benefits on people’s lives. Innovative therapies can profoundly change the path of a pathology and, in some cases, get to eradicate it. This is why we need a broader vision, which takes into account not only the cost of care, but also the results produced, the savings for the health system and the quality of life of patients and their families. Today we have increasingly advanced tools and a huge amount of data, which allow us to better understand the value of the therapies, but it is essential to listen to the voice of patients. There is no average patient: there are people, with different needs and stories, who need to be at the center of treatment paths. Behind a drug, and its cost, there is the hope of a better life: from here we must start to fully recognize the value of innovation.”.
The keynote speech entitled “Ricerca e Terapie Innovative” by Pierluigi Nicotera, already Scientific Director and CEO of DZNE – National Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Germany and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondino IRCCS in Pavia.
The second part of the morning was dedicated to a round table with protagonists Pierluigi Russo, Technical Director-Scientifico of AIFA, Angelo Gratarola, referent of the Liguria Region and member of the CdA AIFA, Francesca Faravelli, Director of the UOC Genomic and Genetic Clinic of the IRCCCS Istituto Gaslini, Rosanna D’Antona, President of Europa Donna Italia and Arianna Gregis, Farmindustria.
“The trend of pharmaceutical spending is a complex phenomenon, which cannot be reduced to the variation of a figure to be kept under control: it must be read taking into account all the components that determine it. With the arrival of new therapies, whose impact on public finance is significant, we need to overcome the logic of the single therapeutic area and adopt a holistic view of access to care, more personalized and attentive to the local epidemiological context. Evaluating and recognizing innovation requires detailed technical paths, able to grasp the overall health impact and benefits on quality of life. The Agency considers all the drivers connected with innovation, but this also requires close collaboration with the Regions: they need attention to the appropriateness and a coordinated approach, respecting their respective responsibilities,” said Pierluigi Russo, speaking at the round table.
The conclusions were entrusted to the Administrative Director of AIFA Giovanni Pavesi: “ Giving more life to years is not just a slogan, but a commitment to the challenges of increasing life expectancy and chronicity. This is why we need to broaden the perspective of governance, including pharmaceutical spending in a broader pharmaceutical policy. The 104 medicines for which in 2025 the European Medicines Agency recommended authorization remind us that innovation also affects ethics, and that it serves scientific rigor to distinguish what is really innovative from what is only new. The task requires all actors flexible tools and the overcoming of the logic of silos: the reorganization of AIFA goes in this direction. The recent entry of the Agency into the National Digital Data Platform (PDND), which allows to share in a transparent and secure way the data of medicinal products authorized in Italy, is a further step in the transformation of public health, necessary to bring true innovation to patients”.
– photo press office Liguria Region –
(ITALPRESS).
