In 2023, two European projects were launched: PCM4EU (Personalized Cancer Medicine for all EU citizens), funded by the EU4Health program as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (grant: 101079984) and PRIME-ROSE (Precision Cancer Medicine Repurposing System Using Pragmatic Clinical Trials), funded under the Horizon Europe program (grant: 101104269).
These projects aim to broaden access for patients to precision cancer medicine, by building a network of trials that based their protocol on the original Drug Rediscovery Protocol (DRUP) from the Netherlands, so-called DRUP-like clinical trials. This European network of investigator-initiated clinical trials that have an aligned trial design and primary endpoints, facilitates accelerated accrual and data sharing, thereby improving patients access to off-label treatments. There are currently five ongoing European DRUP-like clinical trials, besides DRUP, and five are planning to start soon.
PCM4EU, that started in January 2023 and will continue until June 2025, focuses on the existing standards in molecular testing, from the availability of biomarker tests to implementation of clinical decision support systems and interpretation of results. With the formation of a data sharing platform, PCM4EU provides the basis for pooled cohort analyses between the different DRUP-like trials within PRIME-ROSE, that started in July 2023 and will run for 5 years. The PRIME-ROSE project will also strengthen methodologies in precision cancer clinical trials by e.g., developing synthetic control arms, developing models for the standardization of clinical data, and analyzing frameworks for the evaluation and reimbursement of on- and off-label oncology drugs in European countries. A detailed article that highlights the different activities in both projects can be found here.
For more information on the ongoing European projects, please follow the links below:
http://www.pcm4eu.eu/
http://www.prime-rose.eu/