RWE4Decisions Webinar: How Can Horizon Scanning Support Early Dialogues and RWE Generation?

Matias Olsen is the Associate Director, Public Affairs and Policy at the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE). His work focuses on key topics, including the implementation of EU HTA, advanced diagnostics, and Real-World Evidence.

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.

Dr. Karen Facey worked as a statistician in the pharmaceutical sector and UK medicines regulation, before becoming founding Chief Executive of the first national HTA agency in Scotland. Since 2003, Karen has been an independent HTA consultant with special interests in RWD, rare diseases and patient involvement. She is passionate about holistic HTA to determine value and use of health service data to improve patient care. Karen also works with the University of Oxford as a Senior HTA Advisor in the IHI Guidelines for RWE Generation project and with Utrecht University in the SUSTAIN HTA Coordinating Support Action.

Marcus is the General Manager of the International Horizon Scanning Initiative (IHSI), the launch of which he spearheaded in 2018. Under his direction, IHSI established a comprehensive global database of pharmaceutical products in the development phase, coupled with state-of-the-art data modelling tools. These advancements have been critical in bolstering healthcare systems' preparedness and enhancing the member state healthcare product negotiation potential.

Previously, he held the position as COO of EUnetHTA and is considered as one of the key architects of the European HTA system. In addition, in 2017, Marcus created the “Heads of Agency Meeting” which in 2021 led to the formation of the Heads of HTA Agencies Group, where he served as General Manager until 2023. This initiative unites key European HTA decision-makers, creating a forum to discuss and align on major strategic questions relevant to EU HTA agencies.

Lara Wolfson is an Associate Vice-President and Head of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Statistics at MSD, where she has been working since 2015. She also co-leads the European Special Interest Group (HTA ESIG) of the European Federation of Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (EFSPI). Prior to her current position, Lara’s career spans roles at various pharmaceutical companies and the World Health Organisation, where she focused on biostatistics, health technology assessment, vaccines, epidemiology, and health economics. She also held a teaching position at Brigham Young University (US) and the University of Waterloo (Canada). Over the years, Lara has authored of numerous scientific papers, particularly focusing on vaccination and infectious diseases. Lara obtained a PhD in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University, with an undergraduate background from Simon Fraser University.

Björn Wettermark, M.Sc.Pharm, PhD is a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at Uppsala University. Through this role, Björn has contributed to many published papers addressing Horizon Scanning in Sweden, notably on early awareness and alert systems. Additionally, Björn is involved in More-Europa, which is an EU-funded project aimed at developing, implementing and establishing evidentiary standards and methods to address the data and evidentiary needs of regulatory authorities and HTA bodies towards a more efficient use of RWD for the development, registration and assessment of medicinal products. Among others, Björn is also currently the Scientific Advisor to the Swedish Medical Products Agency and Chair of the Board of Swedish Network for Drug Epidemiology.