A Roadmap for Personalized Medicine: the findings of the IC2PerMed Project

Flavia Beccia^1*Francesco Andrea Causio¹Marzia Di Marcantonio²Ilda Hoxhaj³Chiara Cadeddu⁴Melissa Campagno⁵Lena Schleicher⁶Carmen Fotino⁷Maike Tauchert⁸Marta Lomazzi⁹Lili Wang¹⁰Wenya Wang¹¹Huiyao Huang¹²Stefania Boccia¹Walter Ricciardi¹

• ¹Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
• ²Faculty of Economics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy
• ³Unit of General Surgery, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IRCCS), Rome, Lazio, Italy
• ⁴Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• ⁵G.A.C. Group - Innovation & Performance for Impact, Valbonne, France
• ⁶Steinbeis Europa Zentrum (SEZ), Stuttgart, Germany
• ⁷Telethon Foundation, Rome, Lazio, Italy
• ⁸Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure Consortium, Graz, Styria, Austria
• ⁹World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
• ¹⁰Jingyi Alliance Clinical Application; BGI, Beijing, China
• ¹¹Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
• ¹²Clinical Trials Center of National Cancer Center, Beijing, China

Personalized Medicine (PM) tailors prevention and treatment to individuals based on their unique characteristics.It can improve health outcomes and healthcare sustainability by optimizing resource allocation. The European Union (EU) and China both prioritize PM. The IC2PerMed project aims to facilitate collaboration by developing a PM roadmap. This paper presents the main project's output, a roadmap for implementing PM in the EU and China, promoting best practice exchange, and addressing potential barriers.We assessed PM in the EU and China by mapping policies, programs, funding mechanisms, and health ecosystems. Three Delphi surveys highlighted 65 priorities, which were synthesized into actions.The study identifies priorities to unlock PM's potential for healthcare transformation and better public health. The roadmap includes structural actions, like enhancing health literacy, fostering intersectoral and international collaboration, continuously reviewing technologies, and facilitating innovation market entry through needs assessment and Health Technology Assessment. Data interoperability and shared standards are critical for creating international platforms, and ethical, social, and regulatory considerations are universal in PM processes.A shared action plan can guide health policy and help policymakers understand the interconnection between healthcare, the economy, and society. By supporting international projects and investing in research and innovation, stakeholders can advance global healthcare.