Finalist
Driving Policy Change to Benefit People with Alzheimer’s Disease Today and Tomorrow
Summary of work
In recent years, high profile clinical trial failures in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have contributed to ‘expectation fatigue’ amongst stakeholders regarding new disease-modifying treatments (DMT) for AD. Despite the promise of potential new treatments, repeated R&D failures posed serious challenges for MSD, notably in terms of reactivating key stakeholder relationships amid growing policy inertia in AD – one of the biggest public health crises of the 21st century.
By asking ‘what if…’, MSD helped to bring the AD community together to imagine a different future. The What if series of policy roundtables in the European Parliament created a place for the community to explore important topics, including how the ethical challenges of early detection and diagnosis without a DMT could be managed, how stigma and inequalities faced by people with AD could be overcome and how to mitigate the economic and social cost of AD in Europe.
The result was a community re-energised for campaigning, a white paper with agreed policy recommendations for action, and MEPs reactivated to take up the cause of AD at EU and national level.
Judges’ comments
This work delivered clear evidence context with specific measurable objectives to which the strategy and ‘what if’ theme spoke strongly. The work prompted policy recommendations which was very impressive.
