The Italian Horizon Scanning Project

Abstract

Keywords Emergingtechnology .Healthtechnologyassessment .Horizonscanning .WarningsystemIntroductionDemographic changes, increased life expectancy and theaccelerated development of new health technologies have aconsiderable impact on National Health Systems (NHSs)worldwide [ 1].According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufac-turers of America (PhRMA) more than 2700 new moleculesfor 4600 indications are currently under development [ 2].Why an early assessment of emerging drugs?The often modest therapeutic value, the great uncertainty interms of level of innovation, and the high cost of newmedicines [ 3–5] suggest a pressing need for an earlyevaluation of emerging pharmaceuticals.Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a form of policyresearch that studies the short- and long-term consequencesof introducing health technologies in a healthcare system interms of safety, clinical benefit, and social-economic aspects,thereby providing decision-makers with important informa-tion [ 6]. However, this kind of evaluation is carried out onlyafter the launch of new technologies, which prevents theimplementation of management strategies. Thus, methods foridentifying and timely assessing new technologies arenecessary to help decision-makers plan their appropriateuse and optimize resources [ 7, 8].On the basis of these considerations an early warningsystem for identification and assessment of emergingtechnologies could provide decision-makers with timelyinformation on the potential clinical impact and costeffectiveness of new health technologies.The Italian Horizon Scanning Project (IHSP) predictswhich new drugs are likely to have a significant impacton the Italian NHS, issuing periodical evaluations ofemerging medicines for which a European MarketingAuthorization (M.A.) is expected within 12 –36 months.The IHSP is a member of the EuroScan, an internationalcollaborative network of Early Warning Units estab-lished in 1999 for the identification and assessment ofemerging new technologies [ 9].How does IHSP work?The IHSP collects information on emerging medicines fromwebsites (pharmaceutical companies, financial analysiscompanies, international scientific societies, internationalregulatory authorities, health information websites, etc.),medical –scientific literature, pharmaceutical companies ’press releases, and other early warning systems. A scientificcommittee, a database team, and an evaluation team foremerging pharmaceuticals, with a technological infrastruc-ture for data collection, checking, monitoring, and analysis