The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) was represented at the Brussels conference on “Improving patient access to oncology medicines and the role of the EU HTA Regulation: an urgent call to action” held on 1 February 2024, where Prof Elisabeth de Vries presented on the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) and the importance of this tool for supporting decision-making regarding the value of anti-cancer therapies.
The EU Regulation on Health Technology Assessment (HTA), adopted in December 2021 and set to enter into application in January 2025, introduces new EU-wide Joint Clinical Assessments (JCAs) for evaluating scientific/clinical aspects of new medicines. The results of these assessments can be considered by EU Member States in their HTA processes at national level. JCAs will commence with cancer medicines as from the start of application in January 2025.
Given the importance of HTA for access to innovative cancer medicines, ESMO is committed to supporting the new JCAs, including through its tools and resources such as the ESMO-MCBS. This scale is currently being used as part of HTA in many countries. ESMO’s input to the conference has highlighted how the ESMO-MCBS can help facilitate the new HTA processes and support the prioritisation of cancer medicines for evaluation.
