The EBC held its 3rd 2015 Board and 1st General Assembly Meetings in Brussels on 23-24 September. On this occasion, delegates from EBC’s member organisations and industry partners discussed the activities planned for 2015 and 2016.

The following issues were addressed:

Value of Treatment: A progress report on the development of the “Value of Treatment” study was provided in light of the discussions at a roundtable meeting on the day before. While support had been expressed to EBC initiating this project, further information and details were requested as regards the methodology and key outcomes. These are being further scrutinised and report on further development is pending.

Consensus Document on Brain Research in Europe: The draft for a new “Consensus Document on Brain Research in Europe” was presented. Input from the consultation process run in the Summer was discussed and a further opportunity to contribute will be provided in order for the document to reflect fully the essential components of this topic.

STOA survey: Regarding the survey conducted on behalf of STOA, a greater push had been made in order to improve the collection of data. The countries still lagging behind the set objective were Germany and the UK. Further support from EBC Members was therefore requested.

Endorsements: The Board of EBC also agreed to provide its support and endorsement to the following initiatives:

Contributions and input will also be provided to the following activities:

  • EAPM Summer School on Personalised Medicine
  • Study on the off-label use of medicines.

EBC’s advocacy: Follow-up on ongoing advocacy activities was also reported upon, such as namely:

  • the responsible use of animals in scientific research
  • the use of antidepressants
  • EBC’s contribution to the Commission’s work and strategies, as well as the key contacts with various stakeholders and decision-makers
  • The EBC office also presented the developments towards the launch of a new website for EBC as well as the reflection process for developing a communication strategy.

EBC’s governance: On a more formal note, new Statutes for the organisation were approved by the General Assembly -these were published officially in the Belgian Official Journal (Moniteur belge) on 1st October and have hence come into force- as well as the accounts for 2014.