About A2M TF

Established in 2016, the ECL Access to Medicines Task Force aims to make safe and effective medicines available to all cancer patients in Europe, by insisting on accessibility, availability, affordability and increased transparency related to medicine prices, ultimately leading to sustainability of healthcare systems. The Task Force strongly believes in the power of constructive dialogue. We urge all stakeholders to push for accessibility to high quality treatments, improving both survival and the quality of life of cancer patients. ECL Task Force connects 24 national/regional cancer societies in 22 European counties, representing over 500 million Europeans.

Introductory Word from the Task Force’s Chair

These are exciting times for the ECL Access to Medicines Task Force. We continue putting all our energy into a long-awaited reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation and aim to create an impact and guarantee that new medicines are readily available to all cancer patients who need them. This once in generation revision of pharmaceuticals framework stems from Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.

Looking back on our achievements, we did our best to influence the Commission’s thinking on the pharmaceutical legislation reform by publishing joint recommendations for the revision of the EU general pharmaceutical legislation with the Anticancer Fund and joint recommendations for the revision of the EU legislation on medicines for rare diseases with the European Fair Pricing Network (accompanied by infographic). We also sent a letter to key Commissioners, including Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, asking to present an ambitious legislative proposal that addresses unmet medical needs and ensures timely access to safe, effective, and affordable to medicines for all patients who need them. In anticipation of legislative proposal, we engaged with members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and outline our recommendations for the reform. In addition, we published policy paper The potential for academic development of medicines in Europe: Case study of advanced therapy medicinal products and engaged key decision makers in a discussion during the joint event with MAC Interest Group.

As soon as the Commission published its legislative proposals in April 2023, we provided our analysis to members. Now the co-legislators at the European Parliament and the Council are scrutinising them and are developing their negotiating positions. To that end, we published two position papers with amendments – for the new Directive and for the new Regulation and are continuing our outreach to key decision makers and informing them how the draft legislation could be improved.

Our mission is not yet accomplished. Every 9 seconds a person is diagnosed with cancer in the EU. Many of these patients need new treatments to live longer and better. I am convinced that we can make a difference by making these treatments readily available. We are a small but dedicated group. Together, we represent more than 500 million Europeans. If we make our voice heard, we will have an impact.

Ward Rommel
Chair, ECL Access to Medicines Task Force