Key issues affecting the development and implementation of personalised medicine: a foresight exercise

A foresight exercise was undertaken by the European Science Foundation to identify the main challenges in the development and implementation of personalised medicine across Europe. A multi- and interdisciplinary group of key stakeholders, including patient groups, regulators, industry and academics, were consulted and invited to discuss and propose recommendations related to personalised medicine in four core areas: data handling; the introduction of new models and decision-making processes (from safety assessment to reimbursement procedures); the enhancement of interdisciplinarity and stakeholder participation; and the need for new infrastructure and funding resources. The results of these discussions were recently published in the Report ‘Personalised Medicine for the European Citizen: Towards more precise medicine for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease (iPM)’ [1]. The aim of this review is to summarise and discuss the key messages of this report.