CTF Europe has been greatly involved in introducing NF to high-impact stakeholders throughout the continent, and is in the process of helping shape European Union (EU) policies through its Horizon Europe funding program and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. We’ve been providing feedback to the development of future EU funding programs for Horizon Europe, which will be determining the next 7-year budget for research, innovation and development. In this context, CTF Europe was also involved by providing targeted feedback towards a revamped public-private partnership, the Innovative Health Initiative (what is expected to be the successor of the Innovative Medicines Initiative – IMI), which has the potential to expand to a multi-stakeholder collaborative forum to address unmet medical needs and bring forward innovative treatments for patients.
On 4 February 2020, the EU announced one of its flagship initiatives that will determine health policies in the coming years, the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. NF tumors are most often non-cancerous, but about 10% of the non-malignant plexiform neurofibromas become highly malignant. Compared to the normal population, NF patients are twice as likely to develop cancer. Due to the fact that many somatic NF mutations can be found in various types of cancer such as lung, brain and breast cancer, NF research can most definitely contribute to the advancement of cancer research. Moreover, by effectively treating the non-malignant tumors that appear in NF, cancer could be prevented. CTF Europe has been contributing to the shaping of this future initiative by providing targeted information to the European Commission.
