EU boosts biomedical innovation across Europe
Drug research and development has received a welcome boost from the EU with the formal adoption of an initiative designed to attract pharmaceutical investment across Europe.
Drug research and development has received a welcome boost from the EU with the formal adoption of an initiative designed to attract pharmaceutical investment across Europe.
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) was established through a partnership between the European Commission and the European pharmaceutical industry to speed up the discovery and development of medicines for patients.
With a total budget of Euro 2bn, the body is expected to fund pan-European public-private partnerships in biomedical research and attract investment.
The aim of IMI and its research agenda is not to produce specific treatments but to address the key "bottlenecks" in the biomedical R&D process, namely: lack of efficacy and clinical safety concerns. Therefore projects will focus on safety and efficacy, but also on knowledge management and education and training. Progress in these four areas is hoped to lead to faster discovery and development of better medicines, providing new tools, which can be applied to different therapeutic areas, including rare and neglected diseases.
The collaborative approach fostered by IMI is designed to reduce risks for all partners and enable them to develop new products faster, through access to shared resources, tools and infrastructure.
The project also offers opportunities for companies specialised in the development of tools and technologies supporting medicine development, such as in vitro, in vivo and in silico modelling (computer simulation).
"Today, despite all the advances being made in areas from cancer, metabolic and infectious diseases, there is still much work to be done. The IMI is a bold and innovative initiative bringing together public authorities, regulators, patients, academia and industry with the aim of boosting biomedical research in Europe.
By addressing key bottlenecks in the research and development of new drugs in pre-competitive R&D, the IMI will challenge the status quo of drug discovery," said Arthur J. Higgins, EFPIA president and Bayer HealthCare ceo.
The IMI is a major new element of the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme (2007-2013). The new legal entity will receive €1bn from FP7. This investment will be matched by EFPIA companies with in-kind contributions worth €1bn, including R&D resources such as staff, laboratories, materials and clinical research capabilities. FP7 funds will be used exclusively to boost the R&D capabilities of the public sector and small and medium sized companies, whereas EFPIA companies will bear their own costs.
Research projects will be selected for funding according to strict criteria. The first call for proposals will be launched this year with an information day scheduled in Brussels on 21 February 2008.