The President of the Portuguese Society of Public Health (SPSP), Francisco George, recently published an opinion piece titled “Opinião pessoal (LXXXI) Sobre reposicionar medicamentos”, where he discusses the great potential of drug repurposing as an effective strategy to accelerate treatments, reduce costs, and meet urgent medical needs.
In his article, George recalls how well-known medicines like aspirin and viagra completely changed their original purpose thanks to scientific discoveries. These examples demonstrate how repurposing allows for the reuse of existing compounds for new therapeutic applications, avoiding the need to start drug development from scratch.
A vision aligned with the RePo-SUDOE project
The Portuguese Society of Public Health, chaired by Francisco George, is one of the beneficiaries of the European RePo-SUDOE project, which aims to turn the SUDOE region (Spain, Portugal, and France) into a European benchmark in drug repurposing. This strategy responds to the high costs, long delays, and failure rates associated with new drug development by offering a more efficient and sustainable alternative.
RePo-SUDOE fosters a transnational network that connects public and private actors in the scientific, technological, and healthcare sectors. The project develops and promotes advanced technologies, encourages multidisciplinary collaboration, and is currently focused on identifying new therapeutic applications in oncology.
Among its innovative actions, the project is creating a 3D visualization room using virtual and augmented reality technologies, aimed at students and researchers, and is committed to disseminating scientific information in an accessible way.
“The future also depends on the courage to rethink the past in order to move forward”, says Francisco George, reinforcing a message at the heart of the RePo-SUDOE project.
👉 Read Francisco George’s full article here.