647Canada’s Centers of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program will
provide $13.8 million of the total funding, with the remainder coming from private
and public partners including the ministère du Développement économique, de
l’Innovation et de l’Exportation of Québec. The goal of the new center is to develop
approaches and methods that will optimize treatment and ensure their rapid and
productive transition from the research stage to use in clinical practice. The Montreal
Heart Institute will house the new center, which was developed in collaboration
with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Personalized Medicine in the EU
There is a tremendous variation in the healthcare systems within the EU but there
are some emerging patterns. A 2004 EU consumer survey showed that:
- 1/3 of consumers are willing to spend private money for healthcare
- 2/3 are ready to cross borders to access better care
- 3/4 ask for better access to information
All EU systems are converging around common denominators including: more
powerful patient organizations, stricter cost control measures, enhanced use of
informatics. Patient bodies are part of decision-making in most EU systems, even
the EMEA, unlike the FDA in the US. There is an increasing impact of EU regula-
tory bodies on national healthcare systems. As was previously true of the managed
care movement, healthcare systems in Europe would likely learn from the CDHC
movement in the US and integrate lessons and tools from that movement into the
frameworks of their given systems.
These trends in healthcare would be favorable for the development of personal-
ized medicine. The following European countries appear likely to develop personal-
ized medicine ahead of others: UK, Sweden, Spain and Germany. The current
situation in the UK is more favorable to the development of personalized medicine
than other EU countries.
European Personalized Medicine Diagnostics Association
European Personalized Medicine Diagnostics Association (EPEMED) is a non-
profi t organization in Europe that, similar to the Personalized Medicine Coalition in
the US that will focus on promoting and harmonizing personalized medicine and
implementing high value diagnostics across the continent. Made up of biotechnol-
ogy fi rms, academic and institutional researchers, small and large businesses, and
patient advocacy groups, announced its board of directors this week. Included on
that board are executives from QIAGEN Marseille, Genzyme, the Personalized
Medicine Coalition, BioMerieux, Theranostics, and Novartis Molecular Diagnostics.
Global Scope of Personalized Medicine