AUTHOR=Vignali Valentina , Hines Philip A. , Cruz Ana Glória , Ziętek Barbara , Herold Ralf TITLE=Health horizons: Future trends and technologies from the European Medicines Agency’s horizon scanning collaborations JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.1064003 DOI=10.3389/fmed.2022.1064003 ISSN=2296-858X ABSTRACT=

In medicines development, the progress in science and technology is accelerating. Awareness of these developments and their associated challenges and opportunities is essential for medicines regulators and others to translate them into benefits for society. In this context, the European Medicines Agency uses horizon scanning to shine a light on early signals of relevant innovation and technological trends with impact on medicinal products. This article provides the results of systematic horizon scanning exercises conducted by the Agency, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s (DG JRC). These collaborative exercises aim to inform policy-makers of new trends and increase preparedness in responding to them. A subset of 25 technological trends, divided into three clusters were selected and reviewed from the perspective of medicines regulators. For each of these trends, the expected impact and challenges for their adoption are discussed, along with recommendations for developers, regulators and policy makers.