Italy | AIFA | Healthcare Updates | iPharmaCenter

AIFA Forms Expert Panels to Support Oncology and Hematology Decision

The Italian Medicines Agency has created two specialist advisory groups focused on cancer care and blood-related malignancies. The initiative is designed to strengthen scientific cooperation with Italy’s leading medical societies and provide additional expertise to AIFA’s Scientific and Economic Commission for Medicines and internal departments.

Both panels will operate under the coordination of Pierluigi Russo, AIFA’s Technical and Scientific Director.

Collaboration With Medical Societies

The new structure forms part of AIFA’s broader effort to enhance its scientific and technical decision-making framework. It comes as oncology and oncohematology continue to experience rapid advances in drug development, treatment methods, and regulatory assessment.

The oncology panel will work with the Italian Association of Medical Oncology. Its president, Massimo Di Maio, will serve as deputy coordinator.

The oncohematology panel will be developed in partnership with the Italian Society of Hematology. Its president, Pier Luigi Zinzani, has been appointed deputy coordinator.

Guideline coordinators from both organizations will contribute to the groups, alongside additional specialists with extensive experience in cancer and hematological diseases.

Advisory Role in Medicine Governance

The working groups will be asked to provide expert assessments on selected oncology and oncohematology matters when requested by the Scientific and Economic Commission for Medicines or AIFA departments.

Their work will bring together expertise from different medical disciplines and support continued engagement with specialists working across specific diseases and broader areas of cancer and hematology care.

The panels will have an advisory mandate only. Their activities will follow AIFA’s requirements concerning transparency, conflict-of-interest management, and confidential information.

Focus on Access to Innovative Treatment

Through the new working groups, AIFA aims to create a more consistent link between regulatory authorities and scientific organizations. The agency said access to current specialist knowledge will help decision-makers respond to the challenges created by rapid innovation in oncology and oncohematology.

The initiative is also intended to support treatment decisions that are clinically appropriate, delivered without unnecessary delay, and financially sustainable for the healthcare system, while helping patients access promising therapies.