ERAMET will provide an integrated approach for developers and regulators’ decision-making for paediatric and orphan drugs, centred on the drug development questions. This will constitute a transparent ecosystem for drug development and assessment, that will facilitate the adoption of modelling and simulation (M&S) methods and related data types (including real word data such as registries and electronic healthcare data). The overall objective of ERAMET is to provide and implement a framework for establishing the credibility of M&S methods and related results as sources of evidence within regulatory procedures. The ecosystem proposed by ERAMET will be based on three pillars: (1) A repository connecting questions, data and methods. (2) The development and validation of high-quality standards for data and analytical methods (including M&S and hybrid approaches). These will cover computational M&S, digital twins, AI, hybrid approaches, standard statistics and pharmacometrics, as analytical methods and alternative data types and sources such as RWD, eHealth data, registries, historical regulatory submissions, scientific and (non)clinical trials). (3) An AI-based platform that will automate and optimise the data collection, formatting and modelling and simulation analysis and implement the credibility assessment. As part of ERAMET, the ecosystem will be applied to five use-cases including paediatric extrapolation and characterisation of drug benefit/risk in 4 groups of rare diseases, namely ataxia, transfusion dependent haemoglobinopathies, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and paediatric tuberculosis. Each of the use-case is planned to lead to submission and regulatory approval of at least one validated M&S tool via the EMA qualification procedure. Training will be proposed to familiarise regulatory assessors, drug developers and clinical researchers with this new approach.

The capacity to generate data in Life Sciences and health research with modern omics and imaging technologies has increased many orders of magnitude in the last decade. In combination with patient/personal derived data such as electronic health records, patient registries and -databases, as well as life style information this Big Data holds an immense potential for clinical applications, especially for in silico personalized medicine approaches. However, and despite the ever progressing technological advances in producing data, the exploitation of Big Data information to generate new knowledge for medical benefits, while guaranteeing data privacy and security, is lacking behind its full potential. A reason for this obstacle is the inherent heterogeneity of Big Data and the lack of broadly accepted standards that allow interoperable integration of heterogeneous health data to perform analysis and interpretation for predictive in silico modelling approaches in health research such as personalized medicine. Further obstacles are legal issues surrounding the use of personal data. To overcome these obstacles, we will establish a pan-European Expert forum with two main objectives: (i) to assess and evaluate national standardization strategies for interoperable health data integration (such as omics-, disease-focused-, clinical-/treatment- or healthcare- and socioeconomic-/lifestyle-data) as well as data-driven in silico modelling approaches and (ii) to harmonize and develop universal (cross-border) standards as well as recommendations for in silico methodologies applied in personalized medicine approaches. This pan-European Expert Forum —the EU-STANDS4PM consortium— has the overarching aim to bundle transnational standardization guidelines for in silico methodologies in transnational and clinical research to unfold the potential of personalized medicine.

Lack of specific relevant know-how in regulatory science delays the development of new treatment strategies or limits the chances that promising innovations will reach patients. STARS aims to improve the direct regulatory impact of results obtained in medical research. Seventeen European countries are represented in the consortium through their national competent authorities, alongside academic and industry representatives, and associations with relevant experience. The work plan includes the development of a Comprehensive Inventory of existing support activities based on a detailed analysis of the currently established programmes. This analysis is also the basis for development of a Common Strategy to strengthen regulatory sciences and two curricula, the Core Curriculum specifying essential knowledge for the professional training of clinical scientists and the Comprehensive Curriculum defining relevant knowledge for specific post-graduate programmes. Three pilot projects aim (i) to transfer an identified best practice example for training programmes to other EEA countries, (ii) to implement a new support activity addressing a gap in regulatory knowledge of significant relevance and (iii) to implement the Comprehensive Curriculum. STARS will deliver consensual recommendations ensuring sustainable support of academic research and will propose additional support mechanisms based on a comprehensive analysis of needs. STARS has the objective and the potential to complement, coordinate and harmonise regulatory efforts among Member States and at European level to support academic health research for the benefit of patients. The aim is to reach academic researchers very early in the planning of relevant grant applications. A further aim is to strengthen regulatory knowledge in general by reaching clinical scientists during professional training and qualification.

This innovation action will give a powerful impulse to implementation of ISO IDMP (ID of Medicinal Products) standards in EU Member States drug databases, supporting safe cross-border ePrescription/eDispensation and effective pharmacovigilance. Once EU-interoperable data on medicines taken by patients become available, further benefits will accrue through better health data for improved clinical decision support, patient empowerment, public health and clinical research. New opportunities will arise for pharma industry, software developers, SMEs providing smart apps and others, thereby fostering their innovation capacity and competitiveness. The many challenges still to be faced on this road will be tackled by a powerful consortium assembling all relevant actors, with critical mass for impact throughout the EU. After 10 years of development, the IDMP suite of standards is ready for implementation. Though some isolated implementation work has started, the time is now ripe for a more concerted effort towards large-scale implementation, contributing to this global interoperability endeavour and delivering benefits to EU citizens. Project ambition centres on conversion of key regulatory and clinical processes to use IDMP. These information value chains must be converted over their full length from data input to data repositories to data usage. Project work spans all three areas, focussing on the most challenging, the implementation of EU and national SPOR (substances, products, organisations, referentials) data bases, including establishing an EU Substance Reference System (EU-SRS). Such information is fundamental to cross-border ePrescription where safe dispensation may require reliable identification of substances in available products. 19 countries are represented, including 26 national Drug and eHealth Agencies. Stakeholders are involved through their associations. Duration is 4 years, budget € 21 m, with requested funding € 19 m.