Speakers
Ansgar Hebborn, PhD, MBA
Head - Access Policy Affairs Europe, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Switzerland
Ansgar Hebborn is Roche Pharma's Head of Access Policy Affairs Europe. He represents Roche in relevant industry associations e.g. in Brussels as the chair of EFPIA’s European HTA Working Group. During the past few years, he has taken an active role as advisor and stakeholder representative in various HTA collaboration networks e.g. EU HTA Network, EUnetHTA and the HTAi Policy Forum Committee, and also has been involved in the foundation of other initiatives in this field e.g. the Green Park Collaborative, the HTAi Asia Policy Forum and SwissHTA. In an earlier role as health economist and outcomes research specialist for Roche in the US, he has gathered extensive experience with real world data research.
Claudine Sapède, PharmD
Director, Global HTA Policy, NOVARTIS INTERNATIONAL, Switzerland
Claudine Sapède is Director, Global HTA Policy at Novartis. In this role, she focuses on value assessment, HTA and reimbursement decision-making approaches and their impact on patient access to innovative treatments. She engages with internal and external stakeholders involved in shaping HTA, pricing and reimbursement decisions. Claudine is currently a member of the EFPIA market access and HTA working groups, leading the workstream related to the implementation of the EU HTA Reg. Prior to this, she had different roles in the field of pricing and market access, at country and global levels. Her career of over 20 y in the pharma sector spans the full spectrum of evidence generation, value demonstration, MA strategies, pricing, and policy.
Inka Heikkinen, MBA, MSc
Regulatory Policy Lead, Lundbeck, Denmark
Inka has been involved very closely in HTA Regulation implementation at EFPIA since the very beginning. She leads EFPIA workstream around regulatory-HTA interaction and Joint Scientific Consultation, with extensive work on defining industry positions and thinking around the future processes and system on Marketing Authorisation review process and Joint Clinical Assessment. As her day job, she leads R&D and regulatory policy strategy and operational excellence at Lundbeck, working with senior leaders defining and advocating for policies that optimizes the environment for future health technologies. Inka holds master degrees on health economics and in policy, an Executive MBA degree with specialisation in finance.
Lara Wolfson
AVP & Head, HTA Statistics, MSD Switzerland, Switzerland
Lara Wolfson, PhD, is the Associate VP and Head of HTA Statistics at MSD in Zurich, Switzerland. Leading a team of 75+ statisticians, she pioneers quantitative solutions for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) challenges. Lara's career spans roles at Merck, Janssen, and the World Health Organization, focusing on vaccines, epidemiology, and health economics. She also taught at Brigham Young University and the University of Waterloo. Dr. Wolfson co-leads the HTA ESIG of EFSPI and holds MS and PhD degrees in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University, with an undergraduate background from Simon Fraser University.
Matias Olsen, MA
Senior Manager, Public Affairs & Policy , European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE), Belgium
Matias Olsen is the Public Affairs and Policy Manager for the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE). Matias supports EUCOPE on key topics, including the implementation of EU HTA, advanced diagnostics, RWE, the Patent Package, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and relevant market access topics. He coordinates members’ thematic working groups, including the P&R/Market Access Working Group, the Genomics Working Group and the EU HTA Regulation Task Force. Matias has previously advocated on behalf of European cancer patients and worked in the Norwegian Social Security Administration, with reimbursement of medical devices and coordination of social security within the EU/EEA.
Niklas Hedberg, MPharm
HTACG Co-Chair & Chief Pharmacist, Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, TLV, Sweden
Niklas Hedberg is the Chief Pharmacist at the Swedish national governmental authority, the Dental and Pharmaceuticals Benefits Agency (TLV). He is the Chair of the EUnetHTA Executive Board and the TLV lead partner in EUnetHTA WP 3 Evaluation. Niklas has been working with pricing and reimbursement since 2001. Niklas started as a medical assessor and project leader in the agency, he was the Head of the Department for New Submissions between 2009 and 2014 and is since in his current position. Niklas has a broad experience of different aspects of value based evaluation and over time has seen the increasing importance for health technology assessment (HTA) both across health care systems and on local level to prepare accurate decision making.
Rui Santos Ivo
President, Executive Board, INFARMED - National Authority of Medicines and Health Products, Portugal
Valentina Barbuto
Policy Officer, European Commission, Belgium
Valentina Strammiello, MA
Director of Programmes, European Patients' Forum, Belgium
Valentina Strammiello is currently the Director of Programmes at the European Patients Forum where she has been working for the past ten years. She oversees the EPF project portfolio and represents EPF in HTA and health data related activities.Before joining EPF, Valentina worked as freelance OSINT analyst on Security and Energy issues. Self-trained in website management and web 2.0 applications, she is among the founders of ecpa2.0 (European Centre for Public Affairs 2.0), a forum of young professionals in Public Affairs. She holds a BA in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in European Studies.
Maya Matthews
Head of Unit State of Health, European Semester, Health Technology Assessment, European Commission , Belgium
Maya Matthews is the Head of Unit for State of Health in the EU at the European Commission's DG SANTE. She joined in 2008 and previously worked at the EU's Delegation to the UN in Geneva. Maya has experience in health issues, consulting on reproductive health, HIV prevention, and Tuberculosis. She holds a BA in Human Sciences from Oxford University and a Masters in Health Promotion Sciences from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she also conducted research from 1993-1995.
Alexander Natz, JD
Secretary General, European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, Belgium
Alexander Natz is the Secretary General of the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs in Brussels and advises innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including start-ups, in regulatory and pricing & reimbursement matters from the EU law and German law perspective. From 2008 to 2013, he was Head of the Brussels Office of Bundesverband der Pharmazeutischen Industrie e.V. Before, he has been a lawyer at Sträter Law Firm in Germany with a special focus on managed entry agreements & licensing of pharmaceuticals. He has also worked in the field of competition law with the EC & in the pharma industry. His doctorate was supervised by the former judge at the European Court of Justice, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Everling.
Sara Torgal, MPharm
Senior Manager, Scientific Programs, DIA, Switzerland
Sara is currently Senior Manager, Scientific Programmes at DIA. In the EMEA region, she is responsible for engaging with external stakeholders and advancing the scientific content strategy by creating opportunities to integrate scientific and regulatory changes of interest in DIA initiatives. Additionally, she is responsible for the regional patient engagement and learning design initiatives, being the liason for the Middle East and SEE regions. Previously, she was Public Health Promotion Projects Manager at the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society. Sara is a Master of Pharmacy since 2015 and a Soft skills Trainer since 2012, having delivered over 300h of Training internationally primarily focused on creating impactful interactions.
Michael Berntgen, PhD
Head of Scientific Evidence Generation, European Medicines Agency, Netherlands
Michael Berntgen, Head of Scientific Evidence Generation at the EMA, Amsterdam, oversees robust medicine development. Collaborating with stakeholders, the department provides scientific advice, supports pediatric and orphan diseases, and manages the PRIME scheme. Michael, a pharmacist with a PhD, worked in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs in Germany and the UK from 1999 to 2006. Joining BfArM in 2006, he moved to EMA in 2007, holding various positions until becoming Head of the department in March 2020.
Julien Delaye
Patient Engagement Manager - HTA, EURORDIS, France
James Ryan, MSc
Director, Global HTA Policy , AstraZeneca (Global), UK, United Kingdom
James Ryan is an experienced health economist with over 25 years of experience in both medical devices and medicine HTA, working across academia and consultancy, as well as country and global industry roles. Currently Director for Global HTA Policy, HTA and Modelling Science at AstraZeneca, James blends his passion for policy, and evidence, leading a team of HTA experts delivering global payer evidence for HTA bodies for AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio. He represents AstraZeneca at the HTAi Global Policy Forum, as well as at European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) HTA Working Group, where he co-leads the methodology workstream as the biopharmaceutical industry prepares for the EU HTA Regulation.
Martin Scott
Scientific Director, Numerus GmbH, Germany
Martin Scott has an MSc in Medical Statistics and is the Scientific Director at Numerus. Having worked as a statistician in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy at pharmaceutical manufacturers and CROs, Martin has been responsible for the statistical analysis and design of clinical trials across all phases of development. He currently heads up the German office of Numerus, a statistical consultancy specialising in late phase development, HTA and RWE. With 27 years of industry experience, Martin now advises Clinical Development and Market Access Teams on the requirements for HTA in Germany as well as the for the European Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA), with an emphasis on oncology.
Anne Willemsen, MSc
Senior Project Manager, Joint Production Co-Lead Partner - Pharmaceuticals, ZIN - National Health Care Institute, Netherlands
Anne holds double Masters Degrees in Health Sciences, specialising in both Health Technology Assessment and Health Policy. This led her through research and project management roles within the Dutch National Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland) since 2016 and she lead the EUnetHTA 21 Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) Secretariat. Since April 2023, she is the co-chair of the HTA Coordination Group Subgroup on JCA under the HTA Regulation.
Thomas M Ecker
CEO, Ecker + Ecker GmbH, Germany
Thomas is CEO of Ecker + Ecker. Since 2004 he has focused on HTA, Pricing and Reimbursement of pharmaceuticals. In that role he has been responsible for more than 100 G-BA submissions and price negotiations. His current focus is on EU HTA strategy and dossier development.
Patrick Hopkinson
Vice President WW Health Economics & Outcomes Research, Bristol Myers Squibb, United Kingdom
Patrick Hopkinson is Vice President World Wide Health Economics and Outcomes Research Markets at BMS. He leads the team responsible for supporting country HTA submissions and RWE. He also leads WWHEOR HTA Policy strategy ex US. He was a member of EFPIA HTA Task force and is a member of the UK NICE Appeals Panel Committee. Before this role Patrick led the BMS UK&Ireland Market Access function. He also led the BMS HTA Policy strategy with the ABPI. Previously Patrick worked at GSK for 14 years in Sales & Marketing, HEOR and Market Access and was an Oncology Pharmacist for 8 years before joining GSK. He holds a Pharmacy degree, a Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, a Masters in Health Economics and an MBA from Henley Management School, UK.
Murray Aitken, MBA
Executive Director, IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, United States
Murray Aitken is a senior vice president of IQVIA and Executive Director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. The Institute undertakes independent research for publication, drawing upon the resources of IQVIA, and focuses on improving understanding of critical healthcare issues around the world, including the role of medicines in patient care, the disruptive impact of technology, productivity in research and development, and the value of information in improving decision-making. Murray directs the research agenda and co-authors reports, while also engaging externally with a broad range of healthcare decision-makers in the public and private sectors.
Francesca Cerreta, PharmD, MPharm, MS
Principal Scientific Officer, European Medicines Agency, Netherlands
After working for Lilly and Merck, Francesca Cerreta joined the EMA in 1996. There, she has set up the parallel scientific advice programme with FDA, worked in CNS and Scientific Advice, and coordinated the PRIME scheme, the digital therapeutic matrix, and the geriatric medicines strategy activities.
Stephanie Said
Scientific Advisor and Chair of the HTA Coordination Group Subgroup on JSC, Federal Joint Committee/Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA), Germany
Stephanie is a pharmacist by training and holds a PhD in pharmacology. She joined the G-BA as a Scientific Advisor in 2016 being responsible for national advice and assessment processes. She entered the EUnetHTA project in 2016 and coordinated the Joint Scientific Consultations (JSC) Secretariat during the EUnetHTA 21 service contract. Since April 2023, she is the Chair of the HTA Coordination Group Subgroup on Joint Scientific Consultations (JSC) under the HTA Regulation.
Antonella Cardone
Director, Cancer Patients Europe, Belgium
Antonella Cardone is the CEO of Cancer Patients Europe, a pan-European all-cancer patient association. She's a Patient Advocacy Expert and Advisor to the Board of Pancreatic Cancer Europe (PCE), uniting physicians, patients, politicians, journalists, academia, and industry, and she is a member of Inspire2Live. Antonella led the European Cancer Patient Coalition and served as Executive Director of the Fit for Work Global Alliance. With 25 years of nonprofit experience in health, social, and employment sectors, she also directed the Global Smoke-free Partnership of the American Cancer Society. Antonella holds Master's degrees in Science and Business Administration. She has been on the Boards of All.Can and PCE, where she was vice-chair.
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