HTA Quarterly | Fall 2018

The global market for wearable technologies is rapidly expanding as mature economies look at ways to more effectively provide healthcare and reduce costs. This article provides a global perspective of wearable technology, describes how the digital streams (“big data”) may be utilized, and contextualizes the wearable technology big data revolution in terms of current health technology assessment (HTA) processes.

CAR-T therapies have significant potential to improve health outcomes but also to increase spending on cancer treatments. Determining the value of CAR-T therapies is critical given the high cost of treatment, which has the potential to greatly hinder market access and commercialization of these promising therapies. We examine the regulatory agencies and payer organizations across the global that are exploring and pioneering innovative strategies to mitigate costs and provide access to patients.

With a population of 7.5 million people, Catalonia is an autonomous region within Spain in charge of its own healthcare, among other things. The region is considered to be a Spanish economic powerhouse, with a GDP of 234.7 billion Euros in 2017. This particularly holds true for the pharmaceutical sector. Catalonia is the leading biotech region in Spain, and in 2016 was responsible for 43.7% of Spanish pharmaceutical exports. We take a closer look at this unique region.