On 28 January 2025, Alzheimer Europe hosted a session of its popular online Alzheimer’s Association Academy. This was the first Academy session of the year, opening with a welcome and New Year’s greetings from the session moderator, Angela Bradshaw, Director for Research at Alzheimer Europe, who set the stage for a focused discussion on health technology assessment (HTA) and pricing and reimbursement processes. The first speaker, Neil Bertelsen (Patient Focused Medicines Development) delivered an in-depth presentation on patient engagement and patient experience data in HTA processes across Europe. He outlined the different stages of HTA decision-making processes, and how patients and patient organisations are involved through written submissions, consultations and workshops. He highlighted how national HTA agencies use a wide range of different involvement methodologies, providing useful guidance and tips for individuals and associations.
Elizabeth Walker, Technical Advisor at the UK’s National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE) provided insights into the complexities of evaluating the cost-effectiveness of new Alzheimer’s medicines in the UK. She outlined the key criteria NICE uses, including clinical efficacy, long-term cost savings, and quality of life measures. She also elaborated on the difficulties in assessing novel treatments with limited long-term data. Audience members asked about ways that HTA decisions can be updated when new clinical evidence emerges. She responded that post-market surveillance and adaptive licensing are becoming more central to NICE’s approach, helping to address these challenges. Matteo Scarabelli, Associate Director for Market Access at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), examined the evolving regulatory landscape of HTA in Europe. He addressed the opportunities and hurdles associated with the new EU HTA regulation, which aims to streamline assessments across Member States.
The discussion touched on potential delays due to administrative bottlenecks and lack of capacity, as well as opportunities for increased harmonisation and involvement through Joint Scientific Consultations and Joint Clinical Assessments. He also underscored the importance of proactive engagement and the need for ongoing dialogue to ensure efficient implementation of the new framework. Closing out the meeting, Jim Pearson, Deputy Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, presented the Alzheimer Scotland perspective on the HTA processes for lecanemab and donanemab in the UK. He provided an overview of the work undertaken by Alzheimer Scotland on healthcare system preparedness, including the findings of a public engagement report on the views of people with lived experience of dementia regarding access to new treatments. He finished his presentation by discussing Alzheimer Scotland’s submissions to the Scottish Medicines Consortium, which call for sustained efforts to prepare the Scottish healthcare system so it is able to meet the needs of all people living with dementia.