In recent years, a widening gap of optimism has illuminated a large number of medically complex cases, offering solutions to incidents or conditions that until a few decades ago were considered intractable or even intractable, giving hope to the suffering and their relatives and charting the future. with great expectations. Modern science has erased leaps unimaginable to the human mind, and the development time for new treatments has been drastically reduced.

This progress was gradually perceived by a larger and larger part of society, mainly experientially, through personal experience. However, this was fully manifested during the pandemic, when humanity watched how the first coronavirus vaccines were produced in just a few weeks, while it used to take decades of experiments.

Innovation in the service of health

But what elements laid the foundation for this remarkable progress? We were looking for answers from a man who understands the field of medicine like few: his Christ Buki, Value, access and politics her Amgen Hellas. Amgen is one of the world’s largest biotech companies and its mission is to be there for patients by developing advanced treatments for serious diseases with limited or no treatment options. As a technology expert, Mr. Bukis is well aware that using data to draw the right conclusions that lead to effective decisions is an interesting, but at the same time, challenging task. As for the impressive picture that pharmaceutical technology currently presents, he says it is because the sector is “taking advantage of advances in biotechnology, molecular biology, medicine and now offering solutions to hitherto unmet therapeutic needs.” . However, it seems that even sciences that are not considered directly related to medicine and are not purely medical work have offered the most: a revolution brought about by artificial intelligence and intelligent algorithms.”

Mr. Bukis compares advances in pharmaceutical technology to the changes brought about by aviation in the last century, and points us to a recent scientific study that analyzes the reasons that led the average American citizen to increase life expectancy by 3.3 years from 1990 to 2015. According to the study, pharmaceutical innovations are responsible for 1/3 of the increase in life expectancy: “Now, in our fight against serious diseases that threaten the lives of millions of people, options such as biological agents, immunotherapy and genetic therapy with much higher efficiency than therapies , available so far. In addition, we are closer than ever to developing personalized therapies that will take into account the characteristics of each patient, ”he says.

The role of Amgen in the development of personalized therapy

What he says about the development of personalized treatment, which once sounded like a scientific script for treatment, impresses me and I want to know more. Mr. Bukis explains to us that Amgen is committed to being at the forefront of these efforts. “For this reason, in 2012 he invested in the acquisition of Decode and its pioneering work in discovering the correlation between the human genome, its mutations and various diseases, known or unknown, common or rare. For the same reason, he is actively involved in the European project Optima, a partnership between pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, which aims to find the right treatment for each patient, as well as the most effective timing of its administration, based on the development of specialized artificial intelligence systems.”

The case of Greece

But what is the situation in our country? Do we have an idea about the health of the Greeks? We have made significant strides in data logging, he said, driven by the introduction of electronic prescription. However, this system must also be extended to the country’s hospitals, tied to hospitalization information records, and automatically enriched by diagnostic testing results if we are to have a complete picture of the population’s health. “An additional impetus can come from the introduction of an individual electronic health card, as well as coordinated efforts to develop maps (registers) of serious diseases, actions promoted by both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Digital Development,” notes Mr. Bukis, adding, however, that despite periodical announcements, the data we have as a country is underused. What does it mean; “They are not used to plan our health strategy and are not shared with stakeholders, leaving the country’s wealth in this area untapped. Whatever data is recorded is useless unless it is carefully examined and used effectively.”

The strongest obstacles

In our country, after a period of deep crisis and changes in legislation (often retroactively) with each new government, the pharmaceutical industry is facing serious problems. As typical specialists in this field say, it can no longer withstand challenges. Mr. Bukis notes that this threatens the very viability of the industry: “Discounts imposed in the form of returns and refunds are tiresome. In many categories of drugs, they exceed 60%, without even taking into account the therapeutic value of the products. Unfortunately, specific measures from the beginning of the previous decade, which were introduced as emergency memorial parameters, are constantly being strengthened until today.” But what are refunds and discounts, terms that were introduced to the Greek medical community and market during the years of the memorandum and continue to occupy the industry to this day, although the measures were supposed to be temporary? The first term essentially refers to the recovery system. This is an automatic reimbursement mechanism in which health care providers reimburse an amount in excess of government budgeted health care costs. The second term used by the Greek state refers to the discount imposed by EOPYY on the amount it has to pay to its suppliers. According to Mr. Buka, “The solution to this particular problem is to increase public participation so that it meets the real needs of the population and does not lag behind the European average. Measures that have already been legislated are moving in this direction, such as the shared responsibility provided for in the national recovery and resilience plan and increased government spending in relation to projected GDP growth rates.

The change in the way refunds are calculated, which was legislated this summer and is retroactive to the start of the year, very effectively highlights another structural issue facing the industry: limited predictability due to constant changes in institutional structure. In such a changing regime, long-term planning is next to impossible.

It was this initiative that brought to naught the business planning of the industry not only for subsequent years, but also for the current year! Mr Bukis points out that the solution to this problem is simple: “It consists in the agreement of all stakeholders on a short-term and long-term reform plan. Like foreign policy, health policy should be stable and not be revised every time the government changes. Because health is everyone’s business.

Common decision

It sets another parameter, without which it is impossible to find a common solution: ensuring ideal cooperation between authorities, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical community and patient representatives, based on transparency and dialogue. “The Pharmaceutical Expenditure Monitoring Committee should be activated and transformed into a Pharmaceutical Policy Planning Committee as an advisory body to the relevant Minister of Health,” he says. “The solution will not be reached if at least one side is damaged.”