Health and Global Institute (HGPI) hosted the Project for Considering the Future of Precision Medicine with Industry, Government, Academia, and Civil Society – The Global Meeting: Toward Equitable Patient Access to Genomic Cancer Medicine in both on-site and online (Hybrid) format on April 4th, 2024.

In the field of oncology, “Cancer Genomic Medicine” has already been actively adopted into routine clinical practice in some countries. There are high expectations that cancer genomic medicine has the potential to fundamentally change the cancer treatment strategy for individual patients in the future.

At this meeting, since ensuring equitable patient access to cancer genomic medicine, including cancer genetic panel testing and subsequent treatment, has become a global topic of discussion, multi-stakeholders were invited, discussing about the latest initiatives in the UK and Japan.

The panel discussion at this meeting focused on the following issues

• Geographic and informational barriers to participation in tests and clinical trials.
• How industry-government-academia-industry collaboration can help remove bottlenecks to patient access.
• Assessment and institutional design measures to ensure access to appropriate tests and treatments at the right time.
• Actions to disseminate and scale up advanced technologies for general use.

[Event Overview] 

• Date & Time: Thursday, April 4, 2024; 15:30-19:00 JST / 7:30-11:00 GMT (Open: 15:00 JST / 7:00 GMT)
• Format: Hybrid (In-Person and Online (Zoom Webinar))
• Venue: Global Business Hub Tokyo Field
  (Grand Cube 3F, Otemachi Financial City, 1-9-2, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN 100-0004)
• Languages: Japanese and English (with simultaneous interpretation)
• Participation fee: Free
• Hosted by: Health and Global Policy Institute
• Supported by: The British Embassy Tokyo
• Sponsored by: AstraZeneca K.K., National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Global Health Innovation Policy Program (GHIPP), Philips Japan, Ltd.

[Program] (Titles omitted; in no particular order)

15:30-15:40	Opening Remarks
	Ryoji Noritake (CEO, Board Member, Health and Global Policy Institute)
15:40-16:00	Keynote Speech 1: Genomic Cancer Medicine in Japan
	Hitoshi Nakagama (President, National Cancer Center)
16:00-16:20	Keynote Speech 2: Genomic Cancer Medicine in the UK
	Dame Sue Hill (Chief Scientific Officer, England and Senior Responsible Officer for Genomics, NHS)
– Break (10 mins) –
16:30-17:10	Round Table Discussion 1 “Tackling Regional Disparities in Patient Access to Genomic Cancer Medicine”
	Panelists Shinsuke Amano (President, National Federation of Cancer Patients Associations /President, Group Nexus Japan) Yu Sunakawa (Professor and Chair, Department of Clinical Oncology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine) Masami Sakoi (Chief Medical and Global Health Officer, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) Emma McCargow (Lead of the Cancer 2.0 programme at Genomics England) Moderator Shu Suzuki (Senior Associate, Health and Global Policy Institute)
17:10-17:50	Round Table Discussion 2 “Optimizing Financial and Institutional Support for Innovation”
	Panelists Naomi Sakurai (CEO, CANCER SOLUTIONS) Hitoshi Nakagama (President, National Cancer Center) Tamayo Marukawa (Member of the House of Councilors / Executive Acting Chairperson of the Diet Members Caucus for the Development of a Social Environment for the Advancement of Appropriate Genetic Medicine) Emma McCargow (Lead of the Cancer 2.0 programme at Genomics England) Moderator Haruka Sakamoto (Senior Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute)
17:50-18:00	Closing Remarks
	Margaret Tongue (Minister-Counsellor Economic Diplomacy, British Embassy Tokyo)
18:00-19:00	Networking Reception