In more than 30 years of operation, ECPM has built a strong network both in Switzerland and internationally and is involved in a wide range of activities, including postgraduate training, academic teaching, pharmaceuticals-related and healthcare-related quantitative research, supervising master and doctoral theses as well as presenting on new scientific trends to external audiences.

Collaborations

ECPM closely collaborates with research groups within the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel. These key partners include the Department of Public Health, Department of Clinical Research and Clinical Trial Unit, Institute of Nursing Sciences, Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Basel Institute of Epdemiology and Biostatistics, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the Faculty of Business and Economics. External collaborations include those with the Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention of the University of Zurich, and with the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) focusing on outcomes research in oncology and hematology.

Postgraduate training and Alliances

The backbone of the ECPM Education & Training platform remains the Diploma Course in Pharmaceutical Medicine that runs in a two-year cycle. In addition, ECPM offers a broad range of short Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses that count towards the Master program, yet they are also a stand-alone offer and can be booked individually. ECPM has also assisted the set-up of ECPM sister courses (same format, regionally relevant content and teaching syllabus) in China and the USA. Prof. Szucs is a member of the course directorate of the Chinese Course of Drug Development and Regulatory Science (CCDRS) and has received an honorary professorship at the Peking University Clinical Research Institute.

ECPM is accredited as “Centre of Excellence” by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) PharmaTrain Executive Board and listed among the European Course providers on the Pharmatrain website and functions as a training center for the Swiss Medical Assocation (FMH), where ECPM collaborates with the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) in Pharmaceutical Medicine as well as with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Swiss Academy of Insurance Medicine.

Academic teaching

ECPM employees teach a variety of under- and postgraduate targeted courses in pharmaceutical medicine, health economics and health policy. Courses are offered within the Medical and the Science Faculty of the University of Basel, as well as the Medical and the Science Faculty of the University of Zurich, and within the European University Network via the PharmaTrain Federation (Semmelweiss University, Budapest).

Research and scientific publications

ECPM has been active in research since 2003. Over the years, the group has become one of the most active health economics-focused research groups in Switzerland in terms of publication activity, and project scope and scale. The research team pursues a broad range of research activities, including international collaborations in European Union-funded projects and national collaborations with the SAKK, the Federal Office of Public Health and the Swiss Medical Board. We also perform multiple projects with health insurance companies and industrial partners.

Theses

The ECPM team regularly supervises a number of PhD students or students participating in the ECPM Diploma Course aiming to achieve a Master of Advanced Studies in Medicine Development.

Presentations to external audiences

ECPM employees, mainly Prof. Dr. Thomas Szucs, regularly present on new scientific trends in medicines development and drug development sciences to external audiences at universities, at congresses and symposia.