Project description:According to global annual estimates hunger/malnutrition is the major cause of death (36 of 62 million). Cardiovascular diseases and cancer (5.44 of 13.43 million) are the major causes of death in developed countries, while lower respiratory tract infections, human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, diarrhoeal disease, malaria and tuberculosis (10.88 of 27.12 million) are the major causes of death in developing countries with more than 70% of deaths occurring in children. The majority of approximately 800 million people with other rare diseases, including 100000 children born with thalassaemia annually receive no treatment. There are major ethical dilemmas in dealing with global health issues such as poverty and the treatment of orphan and rare diseases. Of approximately 50000 drugs about 10% are orphan drugs, with annual sales of the latter approaching 100 billion USD. In comparison, the annual revenue in 2009 from the top 12 pharmaceutical companies in Western countries was 445 billion USD and the top drug, atorvastatin, reached 100 billion USD. In the same year, the total government expenditure for health in the developing countries was 410 billion USD with only 6%-7% having been received as aid from developed countries. Drugs cost the National Health Service in the United Kingdom more than 20 billion USD or 10% of the annual health budget. Uncontrollable drug prices and marketing policies affect global health budgets, clinical practice, patient safety and survival. Fines of 5.3 billion USD were imposed on two pharmaceutical companies in the United States, the regulatory authority in France was replaced and clinicians were charged with bribery in order to overcome recent illegal practises affecting patient care. High expenditure for drug development is mainly related to marketing costs. However, only 2 million USD was spent developing the drug deferiprone (L1) for thalassaemia up to the stage of multicentre clinical trials. The criteria for drug development, price levels and use needs to be readdressed to improve drug safety and minimise costs. New global health policies based on cheaper drugs can help the treatment of many categories of orphan and rare diseases and millions of orphan patients in developing and developed countries.
Project description:The 9th European Conference on Marine Natural Products (ECMNP) in Glasgow follows its predecessors in La Toja (2013), Tjärnö (2011), Porto (2009), Ischia (2007), Paris (2005), Elmau (2002), Santiago de Compostela (1999), and Athens (1997). [...].
Project description:BackgroundFunding of orphan medicinal products (OMPs) is an increasing challenge in the European Union (EU).ObjectivesTo identify the different methods for public funding of OMPs in order to map the availability for rare disease patients, as well as to compare the public expenditures on OMPs in 8 EU member states.MethodsInformation on the reimbursement status of 83 OMPs was collected in 8 countries by distinguishing standard and special reimbursements. In two consecutive years, the total public expenditures on OMPs were calculated by using annual EUR exchange rates. Annual total public expenditures were calculated per capita, and as a proportion of GDP, total public pharmaceutical and healthcare budgets. Differences between countries were compared by calculating the deviations from the average spending of countries.ResultsIn 2015 29.4-92.8% of the 83 OMPs were available with any kind of public reimbursement in participant countries including special reimbursement on an individual basis. In Austria, Belgium and France more OMPs were accessible for patients with public reimbursement than in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Standard reimbursement through retail pharmacies and/or hospitals was applied from 0 to 41% of OMPs. The average annual total public expenditure ranged between 1.4-23.5 €/capita in 2013 and 2014. Higher income countries spent more OMPs in absolute terms. Participant countries spent 0.018-0.066% of their GDPs on funding OMPs. Average expenditures on OMPs were ranged between 2.25-6.51% of the public pharmaceutical budget, and 0.44-0.96% of public healthcare expenditures.ConclusionsStandard and special reimbursement techniques play different roles in participant countries. The number of accessible OMPs indicated an equity gap between Eastern and Western Europe. The spending on OMPs as a proportion of GDP, public pharmaceutical and healthcare expenditure was not higher in lower income countries, which indicates substantial differences in patient access to OMPs in favour of higher-income countries. Equity in access for patients with rare diseases is an important policy objective in each member state of the EU; however, equity in access should be harmonized at the European level.
Project description:In 2019, the EPMA celebrated its 10th anniversary at the 5th World Congress in Pilsen, Czech Republic. The history of the International Professional Network dedicated to Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine (PPPM / 3PM) is rich in achievements. Facing the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic it is getting evident globally that the predictive approach, targeted prevention and personalisation of medical services is the optimal paradigm in healthcare demonstrating the high potential to save lives and to benefit the society as a whole. The EPMA World Congress Supplement 2020 highlights advances in 3P medicine.
Project description:PhenomeNet is an approach for integrating phenotypes across species and identifying candidate genes for genetic diseases based on the similarity between a disease and animal model phenotypes. In contrast to 'guilt-by-association' approaches, PhenomeNet relies exclusively on the comparison of phenotypes to suggest candidate genes, and can, therefore, be applied to study the molecular basis of rare and orphan diseases for which the molecular basis is unknown. In addition to disease phenotypes from the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, we have now integrated the clinical signs from Orphanet into PhenomeNet. We demonstrate that our approach can efficiently identify known candidate genes for genetic diseases in Orphanet and OMIM. Furthermore, we find evidence that mutations in the HIP1 gene might cause Bassoe syndrome, a rare disorder with unknown genetic aetiology. Our results demonstrate that integration and computational analysis of human disease and animal model phenotypes using PhenomeNet has the potential to reveal novel insights into the pathobiology underlying genetic diseases.
Project description:IntroductionRare diseases (RDs) are often chronic and progressive life-threatening medical conditions that affect a low percentage of the population compared with other diseases. These conditions can be treated with medications known as orphan drugs (ODs). Unfortunately, there is no universal definition of RDs or ODs. This systematic review (SR) will identify the quantitative and qualitative criteria and the underlying rationale used internationally to define RDs and ODs.Methods and analysisThis protocol follows the conventions for the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (2015 guidelines). A SR will be conducted, including a search of the following databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, GreyLit and OpenGrey. Eligible publications will be selected based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Extracted data will be analysed using thematic and content analyses of qualitative descriptors, whereas quantitative data will be analysed descriptively and reported in the form of frequencies and percentages.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval is required since this SR focuses on the secondary analysis of data retrieved from the scientific literature. The outcomes of this SR will be published as part of a PhD thesis, presented at conferences, and published in peer-reviewed journals.Prospero registration numberCRD42021252701.