Published Nov 2, 2015

18^th ANNUAL CONGRESS TO BE HELD 7-11 NOVEMBER, 2015 IN MILAN, ITALY 

Princeton, NJ—November 2, 2015—The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) announced confirmation of key scientific sessions for its 18^th Annual European Congress starting next week, 7-11 November 2015, in Milan, Italy.  The Congress will feature three, dynamic Plenary Sessions centered on the Congress theme, “Impacting Health Decision Making with Outcomes Research: Closing the Gap.”  First Plenary Session – Strategy in Motion: The Current and Future Lifecycle Approach to Decision Making on Health Technologies (Monday, 9 November 2015, 9:15-10:45) This session focuses on the New Medical Device Regulation in Europe as well as the work underway within the Adaptive Pathways to Patients initiative for drugs. The panel will present candid views on adaptive pathways as the preferred approach to developing, licensing, assessing, appraising, and paying for new medicines and treatments. This session will also examine the European Commission's health technology assessment (HTA) network plans following the transition of the successful EUnetHTA program, which built strength and dialogue both across Europe and globally. The session will be moderated by François Meyer, MD, Advisor to the President, International Affairs, French National Authority for Health (HAS), Saint-Denis La Plaine, France. Additional information on the plenary session and speakers/panelists may be found at: http://www.ispor.org/Event/ProgramList/2015Milan?type=Plenary#ProgramItemMon. Second Plenary Session – Outcomes Research: Are We Ready to Put Theory into Practice? (Tuesday, 10 November 2015, 10:30-12:00) In the last four decades, the assessment of outcomes has been moving from the mere ground of research into daily practice. This session will provide an update on current practices, challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives on the assessment of outcomes in different fields of health care: reimbursement of drugs and devices, evaluation of public health interventions, validation of new technologies, and financing of complex health services. The session will be moderated by: Lorenzo G Mantovani, DSc, Associate Professor of Public Health, Center for Public Health Research (CESP), University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy. Additional information on the plenary session and speakers/panelists may be found at: http://www.ispor.org/Event/ProgramList/2015Milan?type=Plenary#ProgramItemTue. Third Plenary Session – Recommendations from the ISPOR Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Emerging Good Practice Task Force and Remaining Controversies (Wednesday, 11 November 2015, 11:15-12:30) Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is an emerging new practice using a broad set of methodological approaches to assist in decision making, especially in an era of expensive but valuable technologies trading multiple criteria. In this session, panelists will discuss emerging good practice recommendations presented in the ISPOR MCDA Task Force Report, including the different approaches for conducting MCDA and remaining areas of controversy. The session will be moderated by Daniel Malone, PhD, RPh, Professor of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Associate Professor, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. Additional information on the plenary session and speakers/panelists may be found at: http://www.ispor.org/Event/ProgramList/2015Milan?type=Plenary#ProgramItemWed. The 18^th Annual European Congress also features a wide variety of issue panels, forums, workshops, and educational symposia, in addition to over 2,450 research presentations. A number of valuable Short Courses will also be offered immediately preceding the Congress (Saturday, 7 November and Sunday, 8 November). Registration is currently open for the Congress with additional information available at http://www.ispor.org/Event/Index/2015Milan.

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