Political Breakfast Hosted by BIO Deutschland and Diagnostiknet BB in Berlin
On 26 April, BIO Deutschland and Diagnostiknet Berlin-Brandenburg held a political breakfast at the restaurant Tucher am Tor to discuss the topic of companion diagnostics with members of parliament. The members of the German Bundestag and the company representatives who attended the breakfast regarded the Federal Government’s Individualised Medicine Action Plan as an important basis, particularly for the development of new diagnostic methods that go hand-in-hand with treatment. The company representatives see companion diagnostics as being on the path to increasing value in modern individualised medicine.
The latest advances in medical genetics and metabolism research are making excellent care ever more possible and effective, particularly for chronically ill and older patients. Blood tests and other diagnostic tests can increasingly help doctors to tailor treatment precisely to individual patients and to predict the success of this treatment. Companion diagnostics help doctors to monitor and control the course of illness, therapy and convalescence.
The company representatives underlined the need for health insurance companies to cover the costs of companion diagnostics, as well as medicinal drugs, so that the innovations needed to personalise therapies can be accelerated. Furthermore, doctors need to be trained in this field. This could be achieved by including the relevant material to a greater extent in medical degree courses, advanced training and further training.
The action plan, which was presented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research that week, provides targeted measures for promoting individualised medicine as an engine of innovation for research, patient care, the health system and the healthcare sector. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research will provide up to €360 million for research and development projects between 2013 and 2016. The stated aim is for patients to benefit sooner from medical therapies and products.