“More than 90% of our research is already based on precision medicine”

Innovation is transforming health at great speed, opening new opportunities for patients and healthcare systems. Marta Moreno, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Market Access at AstraZeneca Spain, analyzes the role of science, Spain’s positioning, and the challenges of access to new treatments.

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We are witnessing an unprecedented transformation in the field of health. How is it experienced from a company like AstraZeneca?

We are living in an extraordinary moment for science. Today we have tools such as precision medicine and data science, which are transforming the hope and quality of life of patients, allowing us to better understand diseases and develop much more personalized and effective treatments.

At AstraZeneca, we experience this transformation as a great responsibility: to challenge the limits of science to change patients’ lives. In fact, more than 90% of our research is already based on precision medicine.

In which therapeutic areas is AstraZeneca focusing its research to respond to these challenges?

Our focus is on areas with the greatest unmet medical need. Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality, but we also work on cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, respiratory and immunological diseases, vaccines and immunotherapies, and rare diseases, closely linked to aging and chronicity, with a comprehensive approach that combines innovation, early diagnosis, and prevention.

Spain has been highlighted as a strategic hub for AstraZeneca. What does the country represent within the company’s global strategy?

Spain is today one of the key countries in AstraZeneca’s global strategy, due to its scientific talent, research capacity, and having a very collaborative environment, where public-private collaboration plays a fundamental role. It is also one of the leading countries in Europe in clinical trials and patient participation.

In this context, the AstraZeneca Global Hub in Barcelona is a key piece. An international pioneering center of scientific innovation and commercial excellence whose mission is to accelerate the development of innovative treatments. All this places Spain in a privileged position to contribute to AstraZeneca’s global ambition, which aims to launch 20 new medicines before the end of the decade.

Innovation is advancing at great speed. Is the system prepared to integrate it?

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Healthcare systems must evolve at the same pace as innovation for it to be possible to integrate it in an agile and sustainable way. Today, patients in Spain can wait more than 600 days to access innovative therapies.

Innovation only makes sense if it reaches patients, and for that it is key to understand it as a strategic investment with return and to advance in more flexible access models.

Public-private collaboration is fundamental for the transformation of the healthcare system. How can AstraZeneca contribute to strengthening it?

Public-private collaboration is an essential lever to transform the healthcare system. At AstraZeneca, we work with administrations, hospitals, research centers, and technology companies, with more than 50 active agreements, to drive innovation, improve care pathways, and advance in digitalization, prevention, and early diagnosis.

Finally, how do you see the future of the pharmaceutical and health sector in the coming years?

It will be increasingly innovative, digital, and personalized, with more predictive medicine that will allow us to anticipate disease. In this context, Europe must strengthen its competitiveness in innovation and Spain has the opportunity to consolidate itself as a reference in science and health.