How IMI is accelerating access to affordable innovative medicines?

On 24 February 2016, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) held a lunch debate in the European Parliament, Brussels on how IMI contributes to efforts to accelerate access to affordable, innovative medicines.

The event, kindly hosted by Françoise Grossetête MEP, featured a presentation of the first results from an expert-led survey of the socio-economic impacts of IMI’s projects as well as the perspective of different stakeholders on IMI. More broadly, it provided an opportunity to discuss how a public-private partnership such as IMI offers value for money for European citizens by paving the way for faster, more affordable access to health and innovation. The 60 participants included Members of the European Parliament, their assistants, policy-makers, opinion leaders, patient representatives and scientists, as well as representatives of IMI's founding members - the European Commission and EFPIA.

The debate focused on:

• the socio-economic impact of IMI’s projects for European citizens;
• IMI’s ability to boost competitiveness in health and innovation sectors across the EU;
• IMI’s role in gathering together all the stakeholders in the health sector for a common goal – improving and accelerating patient access to affordable and advanced medicines;
• IMI’s contribution in tackling cutting-edge diseases through a cross-sector approach, fueling innovation into research on health.

Agenda
Download the agenda

Presentations
Introduction to IMI 
Pierre Meulien, Executive Director, Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
Initial outcomes of the socio-economic impact report
Bengt Jönsson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics
Perspective from the industry
Carlo Incerti, Head of Global Medical Affairs at Genzyme and member of the IMI Governing Board
The health technology assessment perspective
Pall Jonsson, Senior Scientific Adviser, Science Policy and Research Programme, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

Photos 
Look at the photos of the event