Irish Presidency Policy Conference: Innovation and Patient Access in Personalised Medicine
A Dublin policy conference during the Irish Presidency focused on how Europe can move personalised medicine from innovation to routine patient benefit. The event will examine the practical barriers between scientific progress and access, including innovation funding, reimbursement, diagnostic readiness, clinical trials, data infrastructure and health-system implementation.
Event details
Event type
Policy Session
Format
One-day policy conference during the Irish Presidency, structured around opening keynotes, three policy sessions and a closing implementation discussion.
Audience
Policymakers, EU and national health-system leaders, regulators, HTA and reimbursement stakeholders, clinicians, researchers, diagnostics and digital-health experts, patient organisations, clinical trial leaders, industry partners and implementation experts.
Why this event matters
Europe has strong science, regulatory expertise, leading companies and a clear ambition to become a global life sciences leader. But innovation still does not reach patients quickly, consistently or equitably across health systems.
This conference focuses on the gap between discovery and delivery. Personalised medicine will only become meaningful for patients if Europe can build the pathways to scale, fund, evaluate and implement innovation in routine care. The Irish Presidency creates a policy moment to examine what Europe must do next on innovation funding, diagnostics, clinical trials, reimbursement and patient access.
Strategic frame
The conference is built around a simple implementation challenge: Europe should measure its leadership in personalised medicine not only by the innovations it discovers, approves or attracts, but by whether patients across Member States can benefit from them in routine care.
The programme connects three access-critical questions. First, whether Europe needs a dedicated health innovation mechanism to de-risk early adoption and support equitable access. Second, whether liquid biopsy, digital pathology and advanced diagnostics can become routine infrastructure for precision oncology. Third, whether clinical trial evidence can be translated more quickly into real-world access through better alignment between regulation, HTA, reimbursement, diagnostics and implementation systems.
Core question
How can Europe turn personalised medicine innovation into timely, equitable and routine patient access?
Agenda snapshot
08:00-09:00 | Registration
Arrival and networking
Participants arrive at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences for registration and informal exchange before the opening session.
09:00-10:15 | Opening and keynote framing
Personalised medicine, innovation and patient access
Opening remarks and keynote interventions will frame the conference around Europe’s personalised medicine opportunity, the innovation agenda, international collaboration and the patient perspective.
10:15-11:45 | From Innovation to Access: Why Europe Needs a Health Innovation Fund
Can Europe afford not to invest in health innovation?
This session will examine whether a dedicated European mechanism could help bridge the gap between research, regulation, reimbursement and real-world access. Discussion will focus on early deployment, evidence generation, adaptive payment models and more equitable access across Member States.
11:45-12:15 | Coffee break
Networking and informal exchange
A short break for participants to continue discussion and connect across policy, clinical, patient, research and innovation communities.
12:15-13:15 | Liquid Biopsy and Digital Pathology
Building the diagnostic backbone of precision oncology
This session will examine how liquid biopsy, digital pathology, AI-enabled workflows and molecular testing can become core components of modern cancer systems, with attention to validation, reimbursement, laboratory capacity, data governance, clinical pathways and equitable access.
13:15-14:00 | Lunch
Networking lunch
Informal exchange among participants before the afternoon session on clinical trials and local access.
14:00-15:15 | Global Clinical Trials, Local Access
Turning clinical evidence into real-world patient benefit
This session will examine the disconnect between global clinical trial evidence and local access. Discussion will focus on innovative trial designs, real-world evidence, regulation, HTA, reimbursement, diagnostic readiness and implementation barriers across rapidly evolving disease areas.
15:15-16:00 | From Innovation to Implementation
Delivering personalised medicine for patients
The closing session will bring together the day’s key messages and identify practical policy follow-up under the Irish Presidency, including diagnostic readiness, earlier access to transformative innovation, improved evidence-to-reimbursement pathways and patient benefit as the measure of European leadership.
Tracks, labs or working groups
Innovation to Access
This track examines how Europe can move from scientific excellence and regulatory approval to real patient access. It focuses on whether a European Health Innovation Fund or similar mechanism could help de-risk early adoption, support evidence generation, enable adaptive payment models and reduce unequal access.
Expected output:
Policy priorities on innovation funding, early adoption, real-world evidence generation and equitable access.
Diagnostic Readiness for Precision Oncology
This track focuses on liquid biopsy, digital pathology, AI-enabled workflows and molecular testing as core infrastructure for precision oncology. It examines how Europe can build validated, reimbursed, quality-assured and scalable diagnostic pathways that support earlier diagnosis, molecular stratification, treatment s
Expected output:
Diagnostic readiness priorities covering validation, reimbursement, laboratory capacity, data governance, AI-enabled workflows and integration into national cancer strategies.
Clinical Trials and Local Access
This track addresses the gap between clinical evidence and patient access. It examines how innovative trial designs, real-world evidence, regulatory pathways, HTA, reimbursement and diagnostic readiness can be better aligned so that successful trials translate more quickly into routine patient benefit.
Expected output:
Follow-up priorities on evidence-to-access alignment, trial design, HTA, reimbursement, diagnostic readiness and implementation capacity.
People and contributors
Denis Horgan
Expected outputs
This activity is designed to produce practical outputs that can support follow-up after the meeting. Depending on the format, outputs may include a public statement, implementation brief, consensus note, pathway prototype, readiness map, roadmap or stakeholder summary.
Dublin Personalised Medicine Access Brief
Irish Presidency Follow-Up Priorities
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Join us at Irish Presidency Policy Conference
2 October 2026 | 20:00 - 21:00
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, 123 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland, Dublin, Ireland •
Interested in this event?
IPM Alliance welcomes engagement from policymakers, scientific experts, patient organisations, health-system leaders, industry partners and implementation actors.