The use of nonrandomized evidence to estimate treatment effects in health technology assessment

Health technology assessment (HTA) is increasingly informed by nonrandomized studies, but there is limited guidance from HTA bodies on expectations around evidence quality and study conduct. We developed recommendations to support the appropriate use of such evidence based on a pragmatic literature review and a workshop involving 16 experts from eight countries as part of the…

Physical Comorbidities and Depression in Recent and Long-Term Adult Cancer Survivors: NHANES 2007–2018

Many adult cancer patients present one or more physical comorbidities. Besides interfering with treatment and prognosis, physical comorbidities could also increase the already heightened psychological risk of cancer patients. To test this possibility, we investigated the relationship between physical comorbidities with depression symptoms in a sample of 2073 adult cancer survivors drawn from the nationally…

Cost transferability problems in economic evaluation as a framework for an European health care and social costs database

This article presents part of the work within Work Package 3 (WP3) of Impact HTA (Improved methods and actionable tools for enhancing HTA), a H2020 EU-funded research project, intended to enhance and promote collaboration in HTA across EU MS. Amongst other objectives, and in close collaboration with WP4, WP3 addressed setting up a multi-country unit-cost…

Development of a core evaluation framework of value-added medicines: report 2 on pharmaceutical policy perspectives

Background A core evaluation framework that captures the health care and societal benefits of value added medicines (VAMs, also often called repurposed medicines) was proposed in Report 1, aiming to reduce the heterogeneity in value assessment processes across countries and to create incentives for manufacturers to invest into incremental innovation. However, this can be impactful…

Plasma concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and pancreatic cancer risk

Background Findings and limitations of previous studies on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and pancreatic cancer risk support conducting further research in prospective cohorts. Methods We conducted a prospective case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Participants were 513 pancreatic cancer cases and 1020 matched controls. Concentrations of 22…

Implementing Outcomes-Based Managed Entry Agreements for Rare Disease Treatments: Nusinersen and Tisagenlecleucel

Enthusiasm for the use of outcomes-based managed entry agreements (OBMEAs) to manage uncertainties apparent at the time of appraisal/pricing and reimbursement of new medicines has waned over the past decade, as challenges in establishment, implementation and re-appraisal have been identified. With the recent advent of innovative treatments for rare diseases that have uncertainties in the…

Historical exposure to persistent organic pollutants and cardiovascular disease: A 15-year longitudinal analysis focused on pharmaceutical consumption in primary care

Despite restrictions on their production and use, most of the population is still exposed to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These chemicals are thought to contribute to the aetiology of highly prevalent chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), although current evidences are still controversial. Objectives To explore…

Public health policies for the common interest: rethinking EU states’ incentives strategies when a pandemic reshuffles all interests

The paper “Should governments buy the drug patents?” published 13 years ago in this same journal [1] reflected on aspects that have become relevant again, both for good and bad reasons. The last 60 years have seen huge advances in many of the scientific, technological, and managerial factors that raises the efficiency of commercial medicines research…