NCPE Head of Strategy appointed as European HTA Coordination group Chair

Dr. Roisin Adams, NCPE elected as Chair of the Health Technology Assessment Coordination Group.On 28 November 2022, the HTA Coordination Group (HTACG) elected its Chair, Dr. Roisin Adams, National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, Ireland and co-chairs, Niklas Hedberg Dental and Pharmaceuticals Benefits Agency, Sweden and Marco Marchetti, National Agency for Regional Healthcare Services, Italy (1). At this meeting the Coordination Group also recommended the establishment of a single coordinating group with expertise from both pharmaceutical technologies and medical devices for the implementing phase of the Regulation as well as establishment of four subgroups.

Dr. Adams said “It is an honour to be elected to this position by the Member States.  I look forward to contributing towards this new system that will evaluate comparative evidence for new medicines which will ultimately facilitate more efficient decisions which impact  patients.”

The HTA Coordination Group is the main governance body established under the HTA legislation and under which Joint Clinical Assessments and Joint Scientific Consultations for both pharmaceutical technologies and medical devices will be undertaken following established methodological procedures.

The Regulation on HTA entered into force in January 2022 and will fully apply as of January 2025 (2).  Its purpose is to strengthen the quality of HTA in the European Union and ensure efficiency in the evaluation of new medicines and technologies in a consistent way across member states.

The NCPE has greatly developed Strategic European and International Collaboration for Health Technology Assessment over recent years. The Beneluxa Initiative and the International Horizon Scanning Initiative are further examples of Irelands commitment to joint working and collaboration.

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Dr Roisin Adams is Head of Strategy and External Engagement at the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics.

Health Technology Assessment is used to evaluate new technologies and medicines and is a key step in supporting decisions about which medicines get reimbursed by state schemes and at what price.

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