An Avicenna Alliance delegation has just returned from Washington D.C. where they had a meeting at Capitol Hill and attended the BMES-FDA Conference.
Meetings at Capitol Hill
The Avicenna Alliance returns from a contact programme to the US Senate and House of Representatives with resounding success and clear next steps for furthering in silico medicine through policy. The delegation, consisting of Avicenna Alliance members, including the VPHi executive director Prof Lies Geris, 4 representatives of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 2 Observer Representatives of the European Commission met with the Office of Senator Ben Cardin and of Representative Dutch Ruppersberger.
The wider
uptake of computer modeling and simulation (CM&S) is dependent on the
creation of a policy framework that allows for the submission of CM&S data
as part of the regulatory process for treatments. Whether for clinical trials,
marketing authorisation, health technology assessment decisions or
reimbursement, clear rules on the use of CM&S are crucial to expand the in
silico sector.Â
Avicenna members’ main request was that a joint letter be sent by Members of Congress and the European Parliament calling on the FDA and the European Commission to jointly develop “Good Simulation Practices” which would provide much needed guidance to the in silico community. This is being followed up on by the Avicenna Alliance Secretariat to ensure this translates to action on the ground.
BMES-FDA Conference – Frontiers in medical devices
The Avicenna Alliance also returned to the BMES Conference this year
providing an opportunity to catch up with current members and to engage with
potential new members. This is the second time that the Avicenna Alliance has
been present at the BMES Conference with a noted difference in how Avicenna has
been received in 2019. The topic of CM&S and the Alliance’s work garnered
significantly more interest with word spreading of the efforts to help policy
makers develop global policy frameworks to encourage the uptake of in silico
medicine and of efforts to expand the in silico community.
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What is the Avicenna Alliance?
The Avicenna Alliance, is an association of industry and renowned academia/healthcare organizations, from the VPH Institute, who have a commercial or research interest in the development of in silico medicine. The Association, established in 2015, has its origins in the Virtual Physiological Human Initiative, a European Commission endorsed research area on computer modeling and simulation. Tasked by the European Commission with developing a “Roadmap for in silico medicine”, the Association now seeks to put this roadmap into policy and ensure the development of a regulated in silico market.
