Principles for the European Access Dialogue Platform: a project under the WHO Regional Office for Europe Access to Novel Medicines Platform

Overview

The European Access Dialogue Platform (EADP) is a voluntary, WHO-convened initiative established under the WHO Regional Office for Europe Access to Novel Medicines Platform to support timely, equitable, affordable and sustainable access to innovative medicines across the WHO European Region. It responds to access challenges including clinical uncertainty, evolving evidence and affordability pressures. The EADP provides a neutral, structured and inclusive forum for policy-makers, payers, health technology assessment bodies, industry, patient organizations, clinical experts, WHO partner organizations and other stakeholders. Its aim is to facilitate exchange of information and perspectives, identification of barriers and exploration of practical, system-level solutions. It complements existing national and international initiatives. The Platform is guided by transparency, inclusive and balanced participation, voluntary and non-binding engagement, and full compliance with competition and antitrust rules. Discussions within the EADP are general and non-product-specific, addressing system challenges across the pharmaceutical lifecycle – including evidence generation, regulatory assessment, pricing, reimbursement, procurement and post-launch implementation. To promote consistency and transparency, the EADP establishes standardized procedures for topic submission, participant selection, reporting and publication. Once a dialogue on a specific topic within the EADP is completed, a summary is produced highlighting key discussion points, areas of convergence and divergence, emerging consensus, knowledge gaps and potential follow-up action.