New EU Initiative To Address Hurdles In Cross-Border Trials. An EU joint initiative was implemented in November of 2022, to address the hurdles in cross-border trials and cross-border trial access. We’re proud to say that Patient in Focus, through our very own COO Lisbeth Snede, is a part of this initiative.
What Is It?
Europe Cross-Border Tials or EU-X-CT is a joint initiative with the aim of enabling cross-border access to clinical trials, to ensure that cross-border trial access is an option for patients. The initiative is a collaboration between the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
To build an expert council, they’ve collected a series of relevant companies, panels and organizations. The council is comprised of patient organizations, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, research networks, CROs, pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies. The EU-X-CT started their work on November 24, 2022.
What Does It Do?
The EU-X-CT project initially aimed to identify and address EU and national hurdles for patients, their physicians and investigators on a series of topics, including regulatory, insurance, healthcare reimbursement, and logistical hurdles. After some time of research, they decided to form a series of recommendations to better facilitate cross-border access to clinical trials. They also came up with a recommendation to create a central repository of EU and national information for all stakeholders involved.
How Are We Part Of It?
We’re proud to be able to say that we’re a part of the expert council. Our very own COO Lisbeth Snede is the Financial Co-lead of the EU-X-CT project.
The Patient In Focus Perspective
Many patients want to participate in clinical trials, even if it’s cross-borders. However, an uneasiness often exists based on the feeling that they themselves (or their relatives/caregivers) must hold the strings in such a project simply because they do not experience their healthcare professionals and hospital communicating with each other.
By participating in this project, Patient in Focus aims to change this for patients. Through a greater collaboration with professionals in the health sector across national borders and hospitals, we can change the structure of clinical trials, as well as set the stage for new levels of co-creation for both professionals and patients.
