The PREFER project will deliver an overview and evaluation of preference elicitation methods to be applied in the entire drug life cycle, i.e. in the early stages of identifying medical needs, in clinical testing, to guide decisions on reimbursement and to make decisions on withdrawal of drugs from the market. A broad array of (combinations of) patient preference methods will be tested prospectively in a large number of case studies. The availability of large patient cohorts will enable to test new methods or deviations from existing methods in a randomized manner, by comparing well-known methods with newer ones. The use of simulation studies will both contribute to smarter design of case studies and to exploring the sensitivity of outcomes of preference studies. Based on discussions with a broad representation of stakeholders e.g. patients, patient organisations, regulatory authorities, HTA bodies and reimbursement agencies, suitable methods will be tested and their contributions to improved decision making will be discussed in recommendations adapted to the needs of all relevant stakeholders. The recommendations from PREFER are expected to lead to changed practices, in that industry will routinely assess whether a preference study would add value at key decision points in the medicinal product life cycle and, if so, implement patient-preference elicitation studies according to the PREFER project recommendations. The PREFER consortium consist of 16 industry partners and 16 academic and SME members including representation from academia, patient organizations, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, and project management.

The decision-making in chemotherapy nowadays depends on standard methods that are liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS) followed by mass spectrometry or capillary electrophoresis; both are labour- and cost-intensive and can be performed only in dedicated hospitals and laboratories. This lead to a minimal therapeutic drug monitoring in patients and hence that 30-60% of drugs are administered without clinical benefits. We propose to develop a point-of-care device for quantification of chemotherapeutic drugs in small body fluid samples by highly selective nanoparticle extraction and liquid crystal detection incorporated in microfluidic lab-on-chip device (optofluidics based) allowing the real-time drug monitoring. This will improve the therapeutic outcome and reduced health care costs.

A number of nanomedicine formulations have enabled, or been shown to hold considerable potential for enabling more effective and less toxic therapeutic interventions. However, progress to date in translating these initiatives to commercial success has been limited. One of the main reasons for this bottleneck is due to the inability of researchers and stakeholders to manufacture batches of the nanomedicine product at the required scale and according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements. The NANOFACTURING project will focus on - facilitating access to required infrastructures and expertise - creating GMP pilot lines for up-scaling manufacturing - addressing the current developmental and production gaps - taking nanomaterials already successfully produced at proof-of-concept/milligram levels and facilitating their scale-up to sub-kilogram quantities - providing large-scale and GMP production for clinical trials and nanomedicine translation. The NANOFACTURING project, through a consortium of 9 partners, will develop the synthetic processes, process control methods, analytical assays for QA/QC, functional specifications, and best practices, interfacing existing R&D centres of excellence, transfer organisations and private GMP manufacturing facilities (including SMEs) to ensure efficient translation from discovery through to first in man, proof-of-concept studies and beyond to Phase III according to industrial and regulatory standards. Specifically, the NANOFACTURING project aims to create a platform process for early, mid- and large-scale manufacturing of glycan-coated gold nanoparticles (GNPs), a widely researched and developed class of self-forming nanoparticles. The ability to engineer new nanopharmaceuticals based on this patent protected platform technology, developed by Midatech Biogune S.L. (Project Coordinator), will have inherent advantages over existing treatments for multiple therapeutic areas.