FAQ on Innovative Medical Therapies
In recent years, innovative therapies have advanced significantly, bringing new hopes and issues to the table. A decade ago they were only an abstract concept.
It can indeed be argued that all new therapies are innovative as, ideally, they offer a solution to a medical problem that was previously unavailable. However, this broad concept can be narrowed down, limiting innovative therapies to ones that involve new technologies, where scientific progress offers new possibilities of treatment for unmet medical needs.
Using this narrow concept still leaves many different areas of innovative treatments. It is a rapidly evolving field, and trying to capture it in a booklet is like taking aim at a moving target. This FAQ thus highlights three select areas rather than providing a comprehensive overview. As their frequent presence in the media and in discussions can raise controversial issues, the areas we chose to look at are stem cell therapy, gene therapy and nanotechnology.
We hope this booklet gives a balanced view of Innovative Medical Therapies as it is now and for the immediately foreseeable future. It is the result of a collaboration between the patient group EGAN (European Genetic Alliances’ Network) and Roche, with EGAN collecting commonly asked questions and Roche experts formulating answers that have been checked by independent specialists.