Partnerships for better health
To achieve SDG 3 - Health & Wellbeing, innovation is needed. And as trial is the mother of invention, partnerships are essential to future good health. A challenge and huge potential, tells public-private partnership NEXT at Responsible Pharma.
Try, try, and try again - the path to health is based on trials.
Modern drugs go through quite rigorous trials. Though trying new approaches is indeed a corner stone of medicine, nowadays trials are extensive and very thorough. As a result, new drugs can be quite hard to test and therefore approve. A true dilemma for modern pharma and health care, as new treatment option are also essential to our continued development of high quality care.
“You can’t cut any corners in trials. But you can pave the way to optimise the conduct of trials to ensure that good innovations can join our toolkit as easily and quickly as possible,” says Britta Smedegaard Andersen, project director for NEXT, the National Experimental Therapy Partnership. At Responsible Pharma she tells more – see programme.
NEXT is a public-private partnership within clinical research, established in 2014, consisting of the regions of Denmark, ten pharmaceutical companies, associated partners and one GTS institute. NEXT aims to make Denmark a preferred country for early clinical testing of new drugs in patients. In particular, NEXT focuses on proof of concept trials, works to optimise all processes relating to the start-up and implementation of clinical trials, and optimises legal and statutory processes.
“Creating true partnerships always has its challenges, but NEXT is a really success as the partnership works focused around the common goal to attract more clinical research to Denmark. This brings new medicine to the Danish – and indeed global – patients”, Britta Smedegaard Andersen points out.
Good health – good business
NEXT facilitates national disease specific research networks with Danish hospital departments meaning that Denmark offers one single point of contact for inquiries of clinical research projects. The private partners from the life science sector can also use NEXT as means of to attract clinical trials, branding Denmark in the global competition also.
“I think most would be impressed and pleased to see, how diligently new drugs are tested. But we also know that time is really essential – there are lives to save, and suffering to prevent; So we strongly believe in creating the best environment for these trials, but of course also appreciate, that this knowhow and process are actually highly valued,” says Britta Smedegaard Andersen, calling it a true triple win.
Conducting the trials in Denmark has thus shown to also be a good driver for local job creation, thus also creating a positive feedback loop for even better and more efficient trials. “As said – you can’t cut any corners, but the partnership model and an eye on the ball ensures better health for all”, she concludes.
Read more about NEXT here – or a summary of the report on the economical value of clinical trials (underlining the value of partnerships) here.
At Responsible Pharma, NEXT takes the stage along Ferring, Novo Nordisk Foundation, LEO Pharma, and the European Health Futures Forum – while the Sustainability Science Centre of the University of Copenhagen, the Medicon Valley Alliance and Skandia hold workshops and breakouts at the Maersk Tower in Copenhagen. Read more.
