MAPPING FACILITATOR MECHANISMS TO POLICY BARRIERS TO DRUG REPURPOSING: AN ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF MATCHED PAIR MATRIX
Author(s)
Kristóf Gyöngyösi, PharmD1, Zsuzsa Reka Pozsar, MA1, Pan Pantziarka, PhD2, Patricia Vandamme, PharmD2, Raluca Radu, MPharm3, Constance Montazel, MA3, Helene G. van der Meer, PhD4, Claudia Fuchs, PhD5, Rick Thompson, PhD6, George Dennis Obeng, MSc7, Sareema Javaid, PharmD8, Saco De Visser, PhD9, Pier Adelchi Ruffini, PhD10, Donald C. Lo, PhD11, Zoltán Kaló, PhD12, Andras Inotai, PhD1, Dalma Hosszú, MA13.
1Syreon Research Institute & Center for Health Technology Assessment, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, 2Anticancer Fund, Meise, Belgium, 3Medicines for Europe, Brussels, Belgium, 4ZonMw, The Hague, Netherlands, 5EURORDIS - Rare Diseases Europe, Paris, France, 6Beacon for Rare Diseases, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 7Syreon Research Africa, Accra, Ghana, 8European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN), Paris, France, 9FAST (Centre for Future Affordable & Sustainable Therapy Development), Leiden, Netherlands, 10Dompé farmaceutici s.p.a., Milan, Italy, 11European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine (EATRIS), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 12Center for Health Technology Assessment, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, 13Syreon Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
1Syreon Research Institute & Center for Health Technology Assessment, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, 2Anticancer Fund, Meise, Belgium, 3Medicines for Europe, Brussels, Belgium, 4ZonMw, The Hague, Netherlands, 5EURORDIS - Rare Diseases Europe, Paris, France, 6Beacon for Rare Diseases, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 7Syreon Research Africa, Accra, Ghana, 8European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN), Paris, France, 9FAST (Centre for Future Affordable & Sustainable Therapy Development), Leiden, Netherlands, 10Dompé farmaceutici s.p.a., Milan, Italy, 11European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine (EATRIS), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 12Center for Health Technology Assessment, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, 13Syreon Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
OBJECTIVES: Drug repurposing (DR) offers a potentially faster and more cost-effective route to drug development by identifying new therapeutic uses for existing compounds. Despite recent advances in bioinformatics and translational medicine and substantial financial investments, the uptake of DR remains limited, suggesting the existence of policy-related barriers. Previous research within the REMEDi4ALL project systematically identified and prioritized policy-related barriers to DR and compiled potential facilitator mechanisms in a Catalogue of Actions. This study aimed to match these facilitator mechanisms to the barriers they may address.
METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases: 1) During the preparatory phase, an initial draft barrier-facilitator matching (performed by two researchers independently) was deliberated with the core research team (n=6). 2) During the development phase, preliminary matches were further iterated through three workshops involving experts (n=15) from different stakeholder groups within the REMEDi4ALL Consortium. The first two workshops covered all policy areas, while the third focused exclusively on funding-related issues.
RESULTS: The preparatory phase identified 174 barrier-facilitator matches, with a further 72 matches added during the second phase, resulting in a total of 246 matches. Key areas of discussion included the perceived attractiveness and innovativeness of off-patent DR, the sustainability of non-profit driven repurposing models, challenges related to market authorisation and pricing, funding mechanisms across different development stages, and the establishment of viable business cases for DR.
CONCLUSIONS: The barrier-facilitator matching exercise demonstrated that all prioritised policy barriers could be linked to one or more facilitating mechanisms. The resulting matrix translates these barriers and facilitators into a structured set of policy recommendations and highlights the interconnected nature of challenges within the DR ecosystem. While further work is needed to assess the transferability, cost-benefit ratio and implementation of individual recommendations, the findings provide a foundation for policy action to improve patient access to repurposed medicines.
METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases: 1) During the preparatory phase, an initial draft barrier-facilitator matching (performed by two researchers independently) was deliberated with the core research team (n=6). 2) During the development phase, preliminary matches were further iterated through three workshops involving experts (n=15) from different stakeholder groups within the REMEDi4ALL Consortium. The first two workshops covered all policy areas, while the third focused exclusively on funding-related issues.
RESULTS: The preparatory phase identified 174 barrier-facilitator matches, with a further 72 matches added during the second phase, resulting in a total of 246 matches. Key areas of discussion included the perceived attractiveness and innovativeness of off-patent DR, the sustainability of non-profit driven repurposing models, challenges related to market authorisation and pricing, funding mechanisms across different development stages, and the establishment of viable business cases for DR.
CONCLUSIONS: The barrier-facilitator matching exercise demonstrated that all prioritised policy barriers could be linked to one or more facilitating mechanisms. The resulting matrix translates these barriers and facilitators into a structured set of policy recommendations and highlights the interconnected nature of challenges within the DR ecosystem. While further work is needed to assess the transferability, cost-benefit ratio and implementation of individual recommendations, the findings provide a foundation for policy action to improve patient access to repurposed medicines.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
HPR92
Topic
Health Policy & Regulatory, Health Technology Assessment, Patient-Centered Research
Topic Subcategory
Approval & Labeling, Pricing Policy & Schemes, Reimbursement & Access Policy
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas