Digital health, AI, real-world evidence and “proactive learning” are key components of the EU’s proposals for new ways of regulating novel medicines, but only time will tell which products might benefit from the flexibilities offered by the “regulatory sandbox.”

The EU’s legislative revision proposals include stripping down the European Medicines Agency’s committee structure, abolishing the five-yearly marketing authorization renewal requirement, and doing away with the “sunset clause” that requires a product to be launched in at least one EU country within three years of approval.

New, more flexible regulatory approaches will be needed to deal with the integrated therapies coming through company pipelines, and the European Medicines Agency should play a “key orchestrating role” in smoothing the way, says Sabine Atzor, Roche’s head of EU regulatory policies.