Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju

Page created by Clyde Martinez
 
CONTINUE READING
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
December 2017 - n°49

Public Private
Partnerships
  Strenghtening
 Innovation and
Research in europe
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
CARRYING THE

TORCH
FOR MEDICAL INNOVATION

       Find out more about IMI
    Visit our website: www.imi.europa.eu
        Follow us on Twitter: @IMI_JU
                #carrythetorch
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e   | The European Files                    |    3

      E D I T O R I A L
         PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
          STRENGHTENING INNOVATION AND RESEARCH IN EUROPE

T
T      he European Union is halfway through
       the Horizon 2020 (H2020) framework
       for innovation and the journey so far
is ripe for evaluation. H2020 is unique as a
Framework Program for research and devel-
                                                     at a continental scale. This is because the
                                                     subjects of these ETPs and their objectives
                                                     are both too large in impact and necessarily
                                                     unachievable through national initiatives.
                                                     Having identified key research themes such as
                                                                                                           and Transport, Clean Energy and--perhaps
                                                                                                           a testament to its importance in European
                                                                                                           society-- the two separate initiatives on Infor-
                                                                                                           mation and Communications Technologies
                                                                                                           lend themselves well to the management of
opment due to its sheer scale in budget and          Health or Transport research, the JTIs enable         research programs in an “integrated manner”.
duration. With lifespan of 7 years and an initial    large-scale programs to extend the reach of           As the evaluation of H2020 thus far reveals
total budget of EUR 77 billion, it encourages        H2020’s impact potential. For example, the            certain gaps in its implementation, it is
members of public research institutions,             Innovative Medicines Initiative was created           possible the European Union already pos-
private organizations, and interested parties        to tackle “bottlenecks currently limiting             sesses working solutions within the breadth of
at large to come together over strategic tech-       the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of          financing or organizing programs such as JTIs
nological sectors. It does this by boasting one      the drug development activities needed to             and the accompanying Joint Undertakings.
of the most sophisticated and comprehensive          bring innovative medicines to the market”.            This issue of the European Files…
funding portfolio enabling a variety of actors       Europe’s ability to unite all stakeholders
to find funding for their projects, big or small.    involved in the financing, development,                                        LAURENT ULMANN
With the noble ambition of organizing research       approval, and marketing of new medicines
that will contribute to “building a society and      is crucial to maintaining a competitive phar-
economy based on knowledge and innovation            maceutical industry to properly address
across the Union”, H2020 stands out as itself a      the Union and its citizens’ needs. Programs
pioneering program for innovation.                   funded under JTIs each benefit from unique
                                                     approaches to research and development,
   It is clear that part of its strength as an       including measures of “open innovation”
institutional tool for innovation stems from         enabling cross-company collaboration and
its versatile financing packages to projects         asset sharing.
of all sizes. H2020 includes a set of strategic
research sectors and promises to review each            In fact, H2020 wholly deserves the attention
bid based on potential impact. Although the          of the interim evaluation to review and revise
effectiveness of this approach cannot be fully       its capacity to maintain a high level of efficacy
evaluated at this time, several ambitious ini-       in delivering innovation to Europe’s citizens.
tiatives have been launched, refinanced, and         Doubly important is the public’s awareness
improved to meet a standard of excellence.           and perception of these innovation initiatives.
One of the most exciting approaches to               Whereas some projects may be so focused
research that has experienced new life under         as to invite very specialized interest groups,
H2020 is the Joint Technology Initiative (JTIs).     the JTIs offer an innovation scope relevant to
Although some research sectors may benefit           several Member States and its citizens. Key
from a highly focused scope, several Strategic       technological advances must have the capacity
Research Agendas require coordination and            to open and drive new markets. The break-
leadership in European Technology Platforms          throughs required in sectors as large as Health

    Management: The European Files / Les Dossiers Européens - 19 rue Lincoln, 1180 Brussels
    www.europeanfiles.eu - ISSN 1636-6085 - email: ulmann@europeanfiles.eu -
    Publication Director and Editor-in-Chief: Laurent ULMANN - Intern: Raphaël Benros
    Layout & printing: VAN RUYS PRINTING
    Copyright: Shutterstock
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
4   |   T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
PPP’s for a long-term vision for                                          The Innovative Medicines Initiative: taking open
competitiveness in Europe                                          6     innovation to the next level                                   14
Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President and Commissioner Jobs,                     Pierre Meulien, Executive Director,
Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, European                          Innovative Medicines Initiative
Commission
                                                                          The Innovative Medicines Initiative:
Horizon 2020 Review: Towards a more coherent                              Carrying the torch of medical innovation                       16
R&I funding landscape                                              7     Magda Chlebus, Executive Director, Science Policy &
Mailis Reps, Estonian Minister of Education and Research                  Regulatory Affairs, European Federation of Pharmaceutical
                                                                          Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
Streamlining European Research Initiatives                         8
Frédérique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education,                    Value of Private Public Partnerships to
Research, and Innovation                                                  address Infectious Disease Risks and needs
                                                                          for epidemic prevention                                        18
Pushing a long-term vision for PPPs                                9     Jean Lang, MD, PhD, Associate Vice President R&D,
                                                                          Global Health, Partnerships & Funding, Sanofi Pasteur
Jarosław Gowin, Polish Minister of Science and Higher
Education                                                                 Corinne Bardone, Pharm D, Head of Global Vaccines Public
                                                                          Affairs for Polio, Pertussis and Hib Vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur
Preparing for FP9: Reinforcing JTIs and their potential 10
Jörg Leichtfried, Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation
and Technology of the Republic of Austria
                                                                          Energy sector
                                                                          PPP initiatives in the context of the European Energy
Regional Impact of Joint Technology Initiates and                         Union - A powerful element for a sustainable energy
Public-Private Partnerships for European                                  system                                                          20
Competitiveness and Innovation                            11              Paul Rübig, MEP (EPP Group), Member of the ITRE
Markku Markkula, The First Vice-President of the European                 Committee
Committee of the Regions (CoR) and City councillor of Espoo
                                                                          Joint Undertakings: an efficient tool toward the
                                                                          energy transition                                               21
JTIs Sectors: New Ambitions – New Scale                                   Dominique Ristori, Director-General, DG Energy,
                                                                          European Commission

Health sector                                                             Advantages of a JU for a Clean Energy future                   22
IMI contributes to efforts to accelerate access to                        Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of FCH2
affordable, innovative medicine                                   12
Miroslav Poche, Miroslav Poche, MEP (S&D Group),                          Bio-Economy sector
Member of the ITRE Committee
                                                                          To boost and facilitate the process of dispersion of
PPPs: The Patients’ View                                          13     new technologies the role of SME’s is crucial through
Nicola Bedlington, EPF Secretary General                                  the PPP                                                         24
                                                                          Andor DELI, MEP (EPP Group), Member of the TRAN
                                                                          Committee
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e   | The European Files              |   5

The necessity to sustainable bio-based economy                           Transport
in the EU                                                       25
Franc Bogovič, MEP (EPP Group), Member of the REGI                       The future of Joint Technology Initiatives in
Committee                                                                the field of digital transport                               36
                                                                         Henrik Hololei, Director-General for Mobility and Transport,
Strengthening European bio-based industries in a                         European Commission.
competitive global market                                        26
Philippe Mengal, Executive Director of Bio-based Industries              Aviation Strategy for Europe, the importance of JTIs             37
Joint Undertaking (BBI JU)                                               Pavel Telička, MEP, Vice-President of the European
                                                                         Parliament Committee for Transport and Tourism Group of
Taking stock of Europe’s bio-based industries:                           the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
new sectors, new value chains, new investments                   28
Dirk Carrez, Executive Director, Bio-based Industries                    Upgrading Europe’s skies, digitally                              38
Consortium                                                               Florian Guillermet, Executive Director, SESAR Joint
                                                                         Undertaking
Investment framework to build a competitive, dynamic
and sustainable bioeconomy in Europe                 30                 Clean Sky: Innovative results for a more
Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, MEP (S&D Group), Chair of the                    competitive Europe                                                40
Bioeconomy Working Group, EP Intergroup “Climate Change,                 Tiit Jürimäe, Interim Executive Director, Clean Sky 2 Joint
Biodiversity, and Sustainable Development”, Member of the                Undertaking
ITRE Committee
                                                                         Shift2Rail: no train, no gain                                    42
                                                                         Dominique Riquet, MEP (ALDE Group), Vice-Chair of the
Digital sector                                                           TRAN Committee
Public-Private-Partnerships in Horizon 2020
and beyond                                                      31      JTIs in Rail: Tackling a European transport
Roberto Viola, Director General DG CNECT,                                challenge with a new comprehensive approach                       44
European Commission
                                                                         Carlo Borghini, Executive Director of Shift2Rail

ECSEL Joint Undertaking: shaping digital innovation             32      Energy efficiency in the field of transport,
Bert de Colvenaer, Executive Director of the ECSEL JU                    a societal requirement                                           46
                                                                         Gesine Meissner, MEP (ALDE Group),
                                                                         Member of the TRAN Committee
Joint Technology Initiatives and Joint Undertakings:
speeding up Europe                                              34
Lambert van Nistelrooij, MEP (EPP Group),
Member of REGI Committee

Stimulating the innovation through of the PPP’s                 35
Marian-Jean Marinescu, MEP (EPP Group),
Member of the TRAN Committee
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
6    |   T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n    an d   Research    in e u r o p e

PPP’s for a long-term vision for
competitiveness in Europe
                                                      One of the most useful instruments to            research to the marketplace. For Europe this
                                                    overcome market failures is organised part-        means a stronger bio-based industrial sector,
                                                    nerships between the public and the private        which can make it possible to reduce our
                                                    sector. It can encourage more breakthroughs        dependency on fossil based products, fight
                                                    and ensure that great ideas are carried from       climate change and lead to greener and more
                                                    the lab to the industry. We must make              environmentally friendly growth. Overall, PPPs
                                                    the most of the knowledge and science we           can also boost sustainable development in
                                                    produce to enhance growth, productivity and        Europe.
                                                    competitiveness in the long- run.
                                                                                                         The world is changing faster than ever. New
                                                       EU relies on Public-Private Partnerships        technologies are introduced all the time and
                                                    (PPPs) when operating under the Horizon            Europe must be ready – not just to respond
                                                    2020. This is so far the biggest EU Research       and adjust – but also to invent and lead in the
  Jyrki KATAINEN                                    and Innovation programme, with nearly              adoption of new technologies.
  Vice-President and Commissioner Jobs,             EUR 80 billion of funding made available over
  Growth, Investment and Competitiveness,           7 years (2014 to 2020) - and in addition to this      Our digital economy must have trustworthy
  European Commission                               comes the private investment that this money       ICT products, services and software in order
                                                    attracts.                                          to develop. It is vital to secure Europe from
                                                                                                       cyber-threats and make us more resilient to
                                                        When teaming up with the industrial            cyber-attacks. That is why EU is engaged in

Q       uality research and innovation is very      sector, the implementation of research and         another important PPP to support innova-
        important for advanced economies            innovation activities further improves. Mobi-      tive solutions in the field of cyber- security,
        like Europe’s. The value of Europe’s        lising joint investments supports the competi-     which is expected to trig- ger €1.8 billion of
future relies upon our ability to produce           tiveness of sectors that can develop closer syn-   investment by 2020.
knowledge and how well we succeed in trans-         ergies with national and regional programmes,
forming this knowledge into innovation and          and encourage greater private investment.             Looking at the future, we now need to
growth.                                                                                                strengthen further the results achieved under
                                                      A concrete example of an EU PPP is the           the current research programme. The evalua-
   Research and innovation are also crucial,        Horizon 2020 Bio-Based Industries Joint Under-     tion we carried out highlighted its strengths
if we want to create a sustainable economy,         taking (BBI JU). A EUR 3.7 billion investment in   as well as the areas for development. Horizon
high quality jobs and strengthen the competi-       bio-based innovation - with EUR 975 million        2020 has proven to be a successful pro-
tiveness of European industry.                      of EU funds and EUR 2.7 billion of private         gramme to stimulate research and innovation
                                                    investments.                                       benefitting Europe’s competitiveness. The next
   Research and innovation are often high risk                                                         programme will learn from the experience and
activities without guarantee for success or           Here the partnerships ensure industrial          will aim to deliver even greater benefits for the
profits. Many private investors are therefore       research and help narrowing the gap from           competitiveness and growth of Europe.
reluctant to invest even though the economic
or social return could potentially be large. This
unwillingness to invest dampens Europe’s
innovation potential.

  Moreover, while on fundamental research
Europe enjoys a leadership position in the
world, on market-creating innovation the
challenge is still ahead of us.

   The European Commission is committed
to take a leading role to support research and
innovation. Because of the nature of research,
the significant economies of scale and the
importance of cross-border cooperation, this
is one of those areas in which the European
Union can have a real added value.
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n   an d   Research      in e u r o p e    | The European Files                    |    7

Horizon 2020 Review: Towards a more
coherent R&I funding landscape
                                                      of PPPs1 in Europe – under each one there are           do not know what new partnerships are in the
                                                      in turn a large number thematic initiatives.            pipeline. This is a problem for many Member
                                                      From the Horizon 2020 we co-fund altogether             States, but especially for EU-13 countries. Early
                                                      ten contractual Public-Private Partnerships             access to the discussions on the identification
                                                      (cPPP), seven Joint Technology Initiatives              of topics and activities to implement these is a
                                                      (JTIs) and six EIT Knowledge and Innovation             starting point for creating more equal partici-
                                                      Communities. Whilst there is no doubt that              pation conditions.
                                                      the individual partnership initiatives are doing
                                                      a good job, the overall R&I funding landscape           Vision in moving forward
                                                      has become too complex, and therefore needs                To realize the full potential of partnerships
                                                      a more thorough discussion at the political             for EU R&I policy, we need to have a clear
                                                      level before moving into FP9. This is why we            agenda at the EU level for defining, what topics
                                                      decided to address this as one of our priorities        we are going to push forward, and a common
  Mailis REPS                                         during the Presidency of the EU Council.                framework for all partnerships. In practice
  Estonian Minister of Education and Research                                                                 this means having clear conditions when we
                                                        When we first introduced this topic during            implement certain topics via R&I partnerships,
                                                      the informal meeting of research ministers in           coupled with a strategic process for iden-
                                                      Tallinn in July, I was positively surprised by          tifying, implementing and phasing out all EU
                                                      the support for this topic expressed by other           R&I partnerships.
                                                      countries and there was a general agreement

S
                                                      that we need to rationalize the current                    Coming back to the 3% R&I investments
     ince the launch of European Research             complex landscape to ensure its coherence               target and the current low share of private
     Area at the turn of the century,
                                                      and accessibility to all parties involved. These        investments in the Union, we also need to
     Framework Programmes (FP) have
                                                      observations have also been confirmed by                look at whether the current PPP implemen-
developed instruments to incentivize                  the findings of the Horizon 2020 Interim Eval-          tation modes deliver the expected leverage.
European research and innovation (R&I)                uation, as well as echoed in the Lamy Report            First, there is the question of whether we
partnerships to address the fragmentation of          and the European Parliament report on the               need so many different layers of PPPs and
R&I efforts, better coordinate investments,           assessment of Horizon 2020.                             whether they truly complement each other.
priorities and programmes, and increase                                                                       Secondly, we need to reflect on whether the
investments in research.                                                                                      current PPPs in Europe have the means and
                                                      Current challenges
                                                         The development of different types of PPPs           tools to be dynamic and bring about a truly
  In March 2002, the European Council                                                                         transformative change in addressing particular
                                                      is very important in the context of economy
adopted the Barcelona objective to increase                                                                   societal and economic challenges.
                                                      and development of R&I policies. However, the
the overall spending on research, development
                                                      multiplication of instruments has led to a new
and innovation in the Union with the aim of                                                                      The preparation phase of FP9 is clearly
                                                      type of fragmentation and a lack of overall
approaching 3% of GDP by 2010, of which                                                                       the time to address the complexity of EU
                                                      coherence between the different instruments
two-thirds should come from the private                                                                       R&I partnership landscape. This is a time to
                                                      and initiatives.
sector. Although this goal was renewed in the                                                                 rethink the EU approach to partnerships, and
Europe 2020 strategy, the EU investments in                                                                   not just make marginal changes. I invite all
                                                         Although there have been efforts to clarify
R&I have stayed at 2.03%. So let me start by                                                                  stakeholders to actively contribute to the dis-
                                                      criteria for selecting and implementing PPPs
saying that reaching this target should be the                                                                cussions on how we can ensure alignment of
                                                      in the Horizon 2020, these have not managed
guide in everything we do.                                                                                    resources and activities in the EU, with the aim
                                                      to reduce new partnership proposals or
                                                                                                              to jointly address common challenges, and
                                                      expectations on what happens to the existing
  In this context, the EU public-private part-                                                                reduce the fragmentation of R&I efforts. Also,
                                                      ones after FP co-funding ends. I think we have
nerships (PPPs) form a very important part of                                                                 I urge strong existing consortia to look outside
                                                      reached a point where we have to reflect
the EU policy, especially for mobilising private                                                              of their traditional partners and activities and
                                                      critically on the share of funding we should
sector investments and developing a long-                                                                     keep their minds open to new and exciting
                                                      allocate to partnerships as they already take
term vision in addressing socio-economic                                                                      R&I players. I know that Estonia has a lot to
                                                      up 25% of the Horizon 2020 budget. If we do
challenges.                                                                                                   offer in research and innovation, and hopefully
                                                      not deprioritize, there will be no room for
                                                                                                              we have given you a good ‘sneak peek’ during
                                                      the emergence of new topics or networks.
   New types of public-private partnerships                                                                   our Presidency. But more importantly, I am
                                                      Moreover, it makes our national selection
have been launched with each Framework                                                                        happy about the warm response that we have
                                                      processes extremely difficult because we often
Programme that either benefit directly                                                                        received from partners across all Europe to
from the FP or at least exert influence on its                                                                this topic and I hope we have contributed to
content. Currently we have six different forms        1 cPPPs, JTIs, EIT-KICs, ETIPs, ETPs, EIPs.             creating a simpler and more open FP9.
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
8    |    T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n      an d   Research     in e u r o p e

Streamlining European
Research Initiatives
                                                      State of play and ideas for the                             time-consuming without real added-
                                                                                                                  value for them nor for the industrial
                                                      future
                                                                                                                  sector as such. There is undoubtedly room
                                                         European R&I partnerships are essential
                                                                                                                  for simplification. I therefore suggest that
                                                      tools for experimentation and structuration.
                                                                                                                  a common reflection should be initiated
                                                      In the last decade, a lot has been done to
                                                                                                                  between the Commission, Member States
                                                      stimulate the co-design and co-investment
                                                                                                                  and industry in order to take into account
                                                      of a wide range of European R&I, with the
                                                                                                                  this diversity and differentiate mature
                                                      Member States and the private sector. For
                                                                                                                  and integrated European value-chains
                                                      instance, on the co-designing side, since 2008,
                                                                                                                  from more recent and unstructured ones
                                                      10 joint programming initiatives have enabled
                                                                                                                  and define PPP key performing indicators
                                                      the adoption of common agendas among the
                                                                                                                  accordingly.
                                                      member States. Similarly, the European Com-
                                                                                                              › › PPP interactions with the Member States
                                                      mission has favored the involvement of the
  Frédérique VIDAL                                                                                                should be reinforced, as the latter rep-
                                                      private sector in the design as well as in the
                                                                                                                  resent more than 90% of the total R&I
  French Minister of Higher Education,                project implementation of the private sector.
                                                                                                                  public investment in Europe. This dialogue
  Research, and Innovation                               The principle of cPPP, for instance, has                 is of utmost importance to help Member
                                                      brought a clearer, institutionalized and more               States take the best advantage of the very
                                                      transparent dialogue between the European                   high quality of the SRAs while helping the
                                                      Commission and the stakeholders, in particular              PPP stakeholders to propose a more lim-
                                                      with specific industrial sectors. Moreover,                 ited number of focused EU-level relevant
                                                      when properly managed, cPPPs have a great
Why streamlining matters?                             EU added-value by pulling together Europe
                                                                                                                  R&I priorities. In this respect, Member
   We live today in an exciting and unprec-                                                                       States have to be closely involved in the
                                                      academics and industries and encouraging                    governance of these partnerships.
edented time: knowledge creation has never
                                                      them to structure themselves, share their               ›› A right balance has to be kept between
been so strong, turning this new knowledge
                                                      visions and cooperate on mid to long term                   the need to provide visibility to the in-
into innovation has never been done so
                                                      research and technology challenges. As an                   dustry and the capacity to adapt to new
quickly, and the international competition has
                                                      illustration, the reports (Strategic research and           emerging areas or new industrial trends.
never been so intense. As public policy makers,
                                                      innovation agenda, (SRA)) produced by cPPP                  In other terms the budgetary commit-
we have to make our Research & innovation             associations are often of great quality and
(R&I) policies as lean as possible. This is even                                                                  ments in PPPs need to be used as flex-
                                                      contribute to the efficiency of the European                ible frameworks for the programming of
truer for Europe.                                     Commission programming.
   Indeed, R&I is key to the future of Europe.                                                                    actions.
                                                         With a view towards the FP9, these part-             ›› Finally, finding the right balance between
Investment in this sector relies on a wide            nerships instruments must be further used                   representativeness and openness requires
range of actors: Member States, European              to serve strategic objectives codesigned by                 fine tuning. PPPs must not turn into close
Commission, local governments, private                Member States, the Commission and the                       clubs and be open to novel ideas and new
sector. Yet, in spite of this undisputed political    industry, such as technological autonomy.                   actors especially SME and start-ups. Yet,
importance and of this significant number of          Their input should go beyond mere calls for                 they must remain attractive to partici-
funders the investments at EU level in R&I still      projects. France deems necessary to strengthen              pants. As such, PPPs may not be adapted
lag well behind the political target coined as        the support to public-private partnerships,                 to sector characterized by a high level
part of the so called Lisbon strategy almost 20       namely JTIs, for industry sectors matching the              integration and concentration, where the
years ago and reaffirmed in the Europe 2020           maturity and excellence criterias.                          level of commitment by public authori-
strategy: indeed, in 2015, the level of research         A few tweaks are therefore necessary to                  ties must be enduring, and where a very
and development in the EU28 lies at 2.03% of          further improve PPPs impact:                                strong coordination between R&I activi-
the GDP, a far cry from the 3%.                          ›› The wide range of maturity degrees across             ties is required. For this latter initiatives,
   In this context, streamlining the landscape              different industrial sectors has insuffi-             very limited in number (such as European
of the European research initiatives is needed,             ciently been taken into consideration. As             low-power processor for example), other
not only to progress toward the achievement                 an example, one cannot ask the same level             tools are required while keeping the nec-
of the European Research Area, but also to                  of common commitment and assign sim-                  essary relationships with the parent PPPs.
simplify the whole framework and make it                    ilar objectives to 5G and Big-Data indus-         Based on three keywords (focus, simpli-
more efficient. This is a key issue to facilitate a         tries! Yet, too often, extremely challenging   fication and inclusion), the incoming nego-
major investment of the private sector in R&I.              objectives have been set uniformly across      tiation on the next EU FP (FP9) is a clear
Attracting the private sector is indeed crucial             each PPP, generating a huge complexity         opportunity to correct and adjust the PPPs
for achieving the 3% goal and finding solutions             within the governance of each initiative.      to enable their full impact and France will
to the many societal challenges our societies               In many PPPs, stakeholders complain            support this approach in its position papers.
are facing!                                                 that the processes are burdensome and
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n   an d   Research    in e u r o p e   | The European Files                    |    9

Pushing a long-term
vision for PPPs
                                                      focusing on overlapping thematic areas, is               Simplifying the partnership landscape and
                                                      too complex and to be efficient, needs to be          reinforcing effectiveness of the partnering
                                                      reviewed. Taking into consideration the fact          instruments should begin with a horizontal
                                                      that a need for simplification and stream-            and comparative analysis of all existing PPPs
                                                      lining of the partnership environment was             in research and innovation. Taking into con-
                                                      indicated unanimously by Member States and            sideration the importance of reducing the
                                                      stakeholders during the interim evaluation of         number of undertakings by, among others,
                                                      Horizon 2020 and the fact that the High-Level         combining the initiatives with similar inter-
                                                      Group on maximizing impact of the European            vention logic and overlapping areas of activity,
                                                      Union’s Research and Innovation Programmes            modifications in the current partnerships
                                                      chaired by Pascal Lamy recommended to                 might become indispensable. Additionally, it
                                                      cut the number of R&I funding schemes and             is necessary to be aware of the fact that the
                                                      instruments, there is no doubt that now –             European innovation system is consistently
  Jarosław GOWIN                                      during the preparation of the next Framework          undergoing changes and, as a consequence,
                                                      Programme – is the time to take appropriate           requires creation and implementation of
  Polish Minister of Science and Higher
                                                      actions in this regard.                               adjusted policy instruments. In this regard
  Education
                                                         To fully seize the opportunities resulting         the comparative analysis of existing PPPs
                                                      from public private partnerships it is essential      would be helpful to submit recommendations
                                                      to adopt a strategic and holistic approach            concerning replacing or adapting the current
                                                      involving a broad spectrum of aspects that            partnering instruments by the new, enhanced

G
                                                      should be taken into account in the future            ones, that would be better aligned with
         lobalized and competitive economy                                                                  the purposes jointly set by Member States and
         and society require new approaches to        definition and operation of partnerships.
                                                                                                            the European Commission.
         solving crucial challenges we face. Well     The above refers not only to an open and
                                                                                                               Redefining the role of partnerships in the
designed, structured partnerships between the         transparent process of topics selection –
                                                                                                            future European R&D&I framework is of
public and private sectors could gain a more          representing the interests of all Member
                                                                                                            crucial importance as it connects with the
prominent role in the European research and           States and being coherent with priorities
                                                                                                            recently proposed mission-oriented approach,
innovation support portfolio.                         set out at European, national and regional
                                                                                                            that should be a major new element for
   In order to provide sustainable economic           level in particular with Smart Specialization
                                                                                                            future Framework Programme. The concept
growth and strengthen competitiveness at              priorities – but also to the monitoring of
                                                                                                            of developing a coordinated mission-oriented
both European and national level as well as           established initiatives based on a set of duly
                                                                                                            approach for tackling jointly agreed challenges
to adequately address societal challenges             elaborated Key Performance Indicators.                implemented by, among others, PPPs is an idea
the European Union is facing nowadays we              Among criteria measuring progress towards             worth considering and needs to be further
need well-structured partnerships between             pursued objectives the following should               discussed.
the public and private sectors jointly framing        be included: economic and societal impact                A well thought-out design of public private
and implementing research and innovation              demonstrated as European Added Value of               partnerships system can contribute to
agendas. Properly functioning, long-term              undertaken activities, as well as openness to         achieving the core European policy objectives.
public private partnerships in the area of sci-       newcomers, including smaller R&I entities and         By clearly defining the role of Member States
entific research are necessary to achieve the         SME’s, throughout their duration. As far as           and industry in setting priorities and steering
objectives of Horizon 2020 and the Europe             the latter is concerned, it is worth underlining      the process, optimizing the contribution
2020 strategy by, among others, enhancing             that partnerships should be open not only at          of public and private entities as well as by
interdisciplinary approach in tackling                the moment of their creation but throughout           properly balancing top-down with bottom-
emerging socio-economic issues, facilitating          all their duration. Moreover, the abovemen-           up approach, the instrument could provide
introduction of innovative technologies on            tioned approach towards PPPs should involve           solutions to current and upcoming societal
the European market, attracting interna-              their mid-term evaluation and higher degree           and economic challenges. Nevertheless, while
tional research and development investments           of flexibility, which would allow to implement        reforming the partnership landscape it is nec-
and decreasing fragmentation of sectors by            necessary changes in justified cases including        essary to bear in mind that any modifications
building collaborative networks.                      assessment of a partnership relevance in              should bring more simplification and trans-
   Given the considerable advantages of the           contributing directly to competiveness and            parency to the process with the aim of creating
partnership instrument, it is crucial to make         EU policy goals. Apart from the need for a            a more efficient, accessible and open next
full use of its potential. However, it seems          strategic process of selecting and monitoring         European Union’s Framework Programme for
that the current landscape of public private          of PPPs, it is essential as well to define from       Research and Innovation.
partnerships, which consists of multiple ini-         the outset a phasing out strategy from the EU
tiatives operating under different rules, with        funding and a leverage effect for each newly
different funding mechanisms and sometimes            established partnership.
Public Private PartnershiPs - Strenghtening innovation and reSearch in europe - December 2017 - n 49 - ecsel ju
10     |    T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n   an d   Research    in e u r o p e

Preparing for FP9: Reinforcing
JTIs and their potential
                                                     research and industry that would otherwise        top-level RTI and are the basis for competitive
                                                     not be possible, the recent founding of the       products and services in return. The par-
                                                     initiative “Silicon Austria” as an investment     ticipation in PPPs has thus become an integral
                                                     programme to establish Austria as a prime         part of the Austrian RTI-ecosystem.
                                                     location for electronic based systems being
                                                     closely related.                                    In January 2017 the Austrian Ministry for
                                                                                                       Transport, Innovation and Technology has
                                                        We welcomed the founding of the PPP            published its position on FP9, following an
                                                     “Shift2Rail” in 2014 and supported the joining    intense discussion with the major repre-
                                                     of the “Virtual Vehicle Austria Consortium+”      sentatives of Austrian industry and applied
                                                     and the company Kapsch CarrierCom AG as           research. Based on the experience in FP7 and
                                                     associate members. With its ambitious targets     in Horizon 2020 this Position confirms the
                                                     Shift2Rail helps to meet technology oriented      high relevance and value of PPPs, however a
  Jörg LEICHTFRIED                                   as well as societal needs, much in line with      more transparent process when setting up
                                                     the goals of Austria’s as well as of Europe’s     new initiatives and more openness towards
  Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation
                                                     policy to develop competitive and sustainable     new partners have been asked for by some.
  and Technology of the Republic of Austria
                                                                                                       Noticeably the European Commission’s gen-
                                                     transport solutions and boost the compe-
                                                                                                       erally very positive Mid-Term Evaluation of
                                                     tiveness of industry at the same time. Again
                                                                                                       the PPPs confirms this analysis.
                                                     RTI of this scale and scope requires long-term
                                                     collaboration of the best in Europe and their

T
                                                                                                         To conclude, we believe that JTIs will have to
       he Austrian Ministry for Transport,           sustained commitment, supported by the
                                                                                                       be of continued relevance in FP9 and will have
       Innovation and Technology supports            European Framework Program.
                                                                                                       to be reinforced, closely linked to enhanced
       since many years targeted research,                                                             national support of RTI and more ambitious
technology and innovation (RTI)-programs in            Alongside these two examples we are             efforts in aligning national with European
applied and industrial areas in domains such as      interested and active in particular also in the   priorities by European Member States. The
transport, energy, ICT, industrial technologies,     PPPs FCH2 (Hydrogen and Fuel Cells), CS2          support for PPPs within the Framework
nanotechnologies, aeronautics, security and          (Clean Sky 2), BBI (Biobased Industries) and      Program for RTI will continue to be of
space as a building block of its RTI-policies. The   SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Man-       undisputed European added value, helping
procedures followed are similar to the ones in       agement Research), all of them corresponding      at the same time to meet societal challenges,
Horizon 2020. The programs have proven to be         both to RTI and policy goals of the Ministry.     pursue European policy goals and boost the
money spent well, being crucial to enhancing         Compared to the support of individual col-        competiveness of Europe’s industry.”
Austria’s competitiveness, both of research          laborative projects these large European
and of industry.                                     initiatives require long-term commitment
                                                     and investment by the actors involved but
   We are also active in supporting Austria’s        they offer a great range of opportunities for
participation in the industry-driven European
Public Private Partnerships corresponding
to the above-mentioned RTI-domains since
their beginnings. This international collabo-
ration in large-scale consortia with the best
industrial and research actors across Europe is
of high relevance both for achieving European
goals and for increasing the quality of our
national programs. This collaboration allows
us - as a comparably small RTI-actor - to
play prominent roles in large consortia – this
would otherwise not be possible. One example
is the JTI ECSEL (Electronic Components
and Systems for European Leadership). The
Austrian participation is linked to our national
programs in ICT as well as in nanotechnologies
and the Austrian contribution is financed by
these programs. The collaboration within
ECSEL offers immeasurable opportunities to
S t r e n g h t e nin g I nn o v ati o n   an d   Research    in e u r o p e   | The European Files                  |   11

Regional Impact of Joint Technology
Initiates and Public-Private Partnerships for
European Competitiveness and Innovation
                                                       strategic priorities, multidisciplinary approach       Innovation arises from the ground, from the
                                                       and investing better in project preparation         everyday needs of the everyday users. Inno-
                                                       and contract management.                            vation is co-creation, and the Joint Technology
                                                                                                           Initiatives are an inspiring example. They rep-
                                                          For bench-learning and awareness raising of      resent positive change at EU level. By getting
                                                       cities and regions and a step towards European      people, researchers and businesses – together
                                                       partnerships, joint initiative Knowledge            with the public sector – to think, plan and
                                                       Exchange Platform was launched two years            execute is the best way forward for European
                                                       ago between CoR and DG RTD. The Joint               competiveness.
                                                       Technology Initiatives (JTIs) are the aims to
                                                       attract more consistent private investment,            The European Committee of the Regions
                                                       promote research and innovation along whole         can make a difference. Our focus is on kick-
                                                       value chains, to overcome fragmentation, to         starting sustainable growth based on more
  Markku MARKKULA                                      avoid duplication and to coordinate better          partnerships. Local and regional authorities
                                                       innovation activities. JTIs like BBI intend to      have proven their worth in identifying local
  The First Vice-President of the European
                                                       de-risk in research, demonstration and com-         needs, bringing partners together and stimu-
  Committee of the Regions (CoR) and City
                                                       mercialization of technologies and to respond       lating investment in the real economy. Entre-
  councillor of Espoo
                                                       to the challenge of creating and maintaining        preneurship, capacity building, smart speciali-
                                                       a competitive position of Europe. The main          sation and risk-taking must be the mantra of
                                                       positive effects in terms of competitiveness        EU spending. Every region and city can be a

E
                                                       of technologies come via encouragement and          pioneer in societal innovation and public-
     urope today is different than it used to                                                              private partnerships.
     be. In the face of economic and political         support of value chain driven cooperation
     turbulences as well as global megatrends,         across sectors (‘the structuring effect’) and
                                                                                                              To conclude, geography matters and pro-
there an increasing will to incorporate the            via innovation driven mobilization of key
                                                                                                           ductivity in regions are directly connected
voices from regions and cities from the                stakeholders (‘the mobilizing effect’). Flagships
                                                                                                           with aspects that have a strong impact on
bottom-up into decision-making in Brussels.            projects are one of the distinctive measures of
                                                                                                           people’s wellbeing: wellbeing indicators can
The European Committee of the Regions CoR              JTIs. Overall, JTIs have created a stimulating
                                                                                                           help rally behind strategic objectives. Regions
has a crucial role to represent these opinions         research and innovation environment in
                                                                                                           and cities are at the heart of European com-
and concerns.                                          Europe, which we should continue to foster
                                                                                                           petitiveness and innovation. The European
                                                       for the European competiveness.
                                                                                                           Union must become a union of citizens; the
   Our work is guided by our political priorities,                                                         CoR reconnects Europe with its citizens by
agreed in the June 2015 Plenary for the whole             According to benchmark study done, one           encouraging dialogue and collaboration with
five-year mandate until 2020. One of the               of the main challenges is the preparation; we       local and regional representatives as well
major CoR initiates is the Reflecting on Europe        need better well-structured public-private          as enforcing subsidiarity – taking decisions
project. Our starting point is to show that the        partnership (PPP) projects to attract emerging      closest to the citizens. We need to be true
European Union can and must work for our               markets and private sector investments to           believers of Europe and European compe-
communities and citizens. However, for this to         make regional impact on European com-               tiveness and Innovation.
happen, we need to achieve a mindset change            petiveness. There is considerable scope to
– a transition towards entrepreneurship and            improve practices related to the disclosure of
open innovation, experimentation and action            information as well. In addition, we should find
instead of planning, planning and planning.            the right balance between strategic priorities
This can be done together with closer coop-            and encouraging companies to submit inno-
eration between regions and cities but also            vative project ideas and maintaining the trans-
industries in public-private partnerships.             parency and efficiency gains of a competitive
                                                       tender process.
   We need good governance, public and
private, for implementing better policies for             The future is built on increasing synergic
better lives and solving today’s challenges in         collaboration between regions and cities
different parts of Europe and its neighbours.          throughout Europe. Good start has been the
We need a new way of thinking. This means              thematic Smart Specialisation Platforms which
that we need to focus on how we do things              have brought together 100 regions working in
better, instead of only focusing on what we do.        20 interregional partnerships in a broad range
New cross-border and cross-institutional part-         of areas.
nerships are needed and we must embrace a
12     |   T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e

IMI contributes to efforts to
accelerate access to affordable,
innovative medicine
                                                    a bigger market means bigger potential. That         for JTIs in the MFF for 2020+. The discussions
                                                    is why the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint     have already started. For future EU financial
                                                    Undertaking (IMI) was created in 2007.               support, high quality outputs are essential.
                                                       The key objective of IMI is to speed up devel-       What are they? Around 90 projects run
                                                    opment of innovative medicines and their             under the IMI I and IMI II, which represents
                                                    accessibility to patients. It serves as a platform   hundreds of new discoveries. By end of 2016,
                                                    for cooperation of dozens of participants on         33 patent applications were filled, mostly by
                                                    every project such as academics, doctors,            academia, research organizations or SMEs
                                                    researchers or SMEs. IMI even managed to             from 15 countries, some patents have already
                                                    bring together big competitors from the phar-        been awarded. Many projects resulted in
                                                    maceutical sector, which illustrates the sig-        spin-off activities. They generated new foun-
                                                    nificant potential of the JU. The ever-growing       dations, non-for-profit organizations, national
                                                    engagement of patients is another big plus of        platforms, research hubs or spin-out com-
  Miroslav POCHE
                                                    the concept.                                         panies. The citation of IMI projects in scientific
  Miroslav Poche, MEP (S&D Group), Member              IMI’s project portfolio is varied. While gen-     publications has been more than double
  of the ITRE Committee                             erally focused on challenging diseases (brain        compared to the world average, with fields of
                                                    disorders, cancer, metabolic or infectious           genetics and clinical neurology topping the
                                                    diseases or development of vaccines), the            list. IMI projects delivered almost 200 new
                                                    projects seek to reach specific research goals       definitions and mechanisms in the sphere of
                                                    of both a qualitative and a quantitative nature.     drug discovery, concerning for example Alz-

E
      very person eventually becomes a              The backbone of IMI consists of the EU and a         heimer and Parkinson. It speeded up devel-
      patient. Our health is our priority and       pharmaceutical consortium called EFPIA, but          opment of innovative medicines in the areas
      we are very sensitive to anything con-        previous successes have attracted interna-           of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,
nected with the well-being of ourselves and         tional partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates      vaccination or drug-resistance. Projects iden-
our nearest and dearest. The medical devel-         Foundation, the International Diabetes Fed-          tified different biomarkers or new plasma
opment has made fantastic progress in recent        eration or Autism Speaks.                            proteins and contributed to the development
decades, which can be illustrated, for example,        With a total budget of €3.276 billion for the     of new antibiotics. Thanks to IMI, unprec-
by drastically decreased cancer mortality. Yet      period 2014-2020, the EU should contribute           edented pan-European platforms, networks
many suffer because of non-existing or even         1,638 billion euro through Horizon 2020 to           and databases have been set up to speed up
inaccessible treatment. Widely-spread but           be matched by the private sector (namely             the process of clinical testing. Thousands of
not fully explored illnesses exist in parallel to   EFPIA and its members), financially or in-kind.      people have been educated and trained for a
rare illnesses for which the drug development       Pharmaceutical industries are never recipients       successful implementation of discoveries.
process simply is too expensive. And many           of any funding from the programme. On the               The challenges for medical research and
patients don’t have enough time.                    contrary, universities, researchers and patient      industry are endless and the resources are
   The pharmaceutical industry is often crit-       organizations, SMEs and mid-sized com-               limited. The IMI Joint Undertaking projects
icized for being too profit-led; however, the       panies receive funding, often from industrial        have demonstrably boosted medical research
development of any new drug is an immensely         members of the same project consortium. This         and development and thus diminished the
complex process that costs plenty of money.         financial model has proven to be a success and       forever-existing gap between needs and
Profitability is an essential condition for the     has become a model for financing other JUs.          resources. Measurable results such as the
sustainability of every business, including the        The significant budget allows the Joint           number of studies or patents are easily proven;
pharmaceutical one, and whereas you cannot          Undertaking to deliver remarkable results            however, the unmeasurable effects - coop-
buy health for any money, without money you         and its financial management is under a per-         eration, best practices or changing business
cannot develop new treatments. Companies            manent scrutiny. The European parliament             thinking - are equally important. In my
logically hesitate in situations of high risks      plays an essential role in this respect as the       opinion, IMI does exactly what should be done
and uncertainties. Fast development of new          final authority in the auditing process granting     at a Europe-wide level and I believe that this
drugs requires involvement of a large number        the discharge for IMI. The European Parliament       will be reflected in the EU budgeting for the
of stakeholders (hospitals, research institutes,    also decides about the budget, in particular         2020+ period.
patients, SMEs or medical regulators together       when it comes to EU money going to the
with pharma-industry) because a lot of data         envelope for Joint Technology Initiatives/Joint
and other inputs are necessary.                     Undertakings and a degree of co-financing.
   Doing all of this at a European level is much    The outcome from the mid-term review of
more efficient than at a national one because       Horizon 2020 will outline the future support
J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e   | The European Files                   |   13

PPPs:
The Patients’ View
                                                     partnership can only be achieved through            ethical aspects of the project, including con-
                                                     solid and transparent governance measures           flicts of interest, including – amongst others:
                                                     and a strong ethical culture between all               ›› Interaction and communication within
                                                     partners. The European Patients Academy on                the Consortium;
                                                     Therapeutic Innovation – EUPATI project, for           ›› Generation and dissemination of infor-
                                                     instance, offers a good example of a clear and            mation to patients;
                                                     genuine ethical governing structure.                   ›› Communication within the EUPATI
                                                                                                               Network;
                                                     EUPATI                                                 ›› Communication to patients and public
                                                        This patient-led academy leads an ambitious            at large.
                                                     programme to develop educational material,             Adherence to the EUPATI Code of Conduct
                                                                                                         by all EUPATI members ensures trustful and
                                                     training courses and a public Internet library
                                                                                                         successful execution and completion of the
                                                     to educate patient representatives and the lay
  Nicola BEDLINGTON                                                                                      project. The EUPATI Code of Conduct was
                                                     public about all processes involved in med-
                                                                                                         collated with reference to:
  EPF Secretary General                              icines development, with a current focus on
                                                                                                            ›› WMA Declaration of Helsinki, 2008 and
                                                     training courses and expert meetings. Under
                                                                                                               2011;
                                                     the framework programme of EPF, EUPATI
                                                                                                            ›› CIOMS 2002 International Ethical
                                                     brings more than 30 partners from academia,
                                                                                                               Guidelines for Biomedical Research
                                                     civil society, patient organisations and phar-
                                                                                                               Involving Human Subjects;
                                                     maceutical industry together.

P
                                                                                                            ›› EMA Policy on the handling of conflicts
      utting patients at the centre of research         The governance principle of EUPATI sees
                                                                                                               of interests of scientific committee
      projects is a long-standing priority for       an Executive Board comprising two repre-
                                                                                                               members and experts, April 2012.
      the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) and         sentative of each stakeholder involved in the          The ‘EUPATI Code of Conduct’ outlines the
its membership, and is a pillar of the vision of     PPP with equal voting rights: patient organi-       working culture and spirit of “assumed good
the organisation. EPF has been participating in      sations, NGOs & Academia, pharmaceutical            intent” within the Project Consortium, while
projects of various shapes and forms for more        industry, and the EUPATI National Platforms         the ‘Ethical Framework’ outlines the ethical
than a decade now and our credo has always           Network (national level PPPs replicating the        ground rules of the project.
been to represent patients as meaningful             EUPATI model)This ensures patient organi-              Members of the ethics panel and advisory
partners, with co-deciding roles and strategic       sations are involved in all strategic decisions     network continue to offer guidance to the
positions in the governing bodies.                   of the programme, with equal rights when it         EUPATI Programme since it was established
                                                     comes to steering the wheel in one direction        as a permanent programme under EPF in April
Governance and Ethics                                or another.                                         2017. We believe governance and ethics are
   The economic crisis had a massive impact             However, a balanced and democratic               critical success factors for a PPP to achieve
on budgets of EU Member States, including            governance structure is only one part of the        its goals, whilst maintaining the credibility,
budgets for research and public health               equation. Having in place a strong ethics           quality and resonance of their work, will be
projects. This new situation accelerated the         policy is another essential component of a          the strength of the collaboration between the
development of public-private partnership            well-organised PPP.                                 partners and the creation of an environment
(PPP) funding mechanisms in research, a coop-           The EUPATI Ethical Framework establishes         and working culture for each of them to con-
eration arrangement between two or more              the core ethical principles to which all EUPATI     tribute in a constructive, productive way, and
public and private actors, putting together          Consortium members, as well as the members          in a spirit of respect and dynamism.
resources for potential projects.                    of sub-committees, are required to adhere to.          The European Patients’ Forum (EPF) is
   PPPs can offer a sustainable alternative             The elaboration of this EUPATI Ethical           an umbrella organisation that works with
to research funding. By leveraging larger            Framework was provided under the IMI                patients’ groups in public health and health
resources, it enables more projects to be            project which established the EUPATI Pro-           advocacy across Europe. Our 74 members rep-
funded or continued and allows initiatives to        gramme by the EUPATI Ethics Panel (2 co-            resent specific chronic disease groups at EU
grow with stability.                                 leaders from academia and a patient deputy          level or are national coalitions of patients. EPF
   However, their complex and hybrid funding         co-leader).                                         reflects the voice of an estimated 150 million
mechanism require a sound and serious                   The core remit of the EUPATI Ethics Panel        patients affected by various chronic diseases
budget management, with proper in-house              was to provide the infrastructure and access to     throughout Europe.
checks and controls process while retaining          the required intelligence and genuine expertise
flexibility and trust for the participants of the    in ethics and law as pertains to the medicines         More information: www.eu-patient.eu -
potential project.                                   development processes and patient advocacy.         info@eu-patient.eu
   This is where governance and ethics play an       It advised the Project Steering Committee,
important role. We believe a true and mature         Executive Committee and Work Packages on
14     |   T h e E u r o p e a n F i l e s | J T I s S e c t o r s : N e w A m b iti o n s – N e w S c a l e

The Innovative Medicines Initiative:
taking open innovation to the next level
                                                   IMI projects are accelerating the                  patients for clinical trials. To date, there are
                                                                                                      seven clinical trials and studies involving the
                                                   medicines development process
                                                                                                      COMBACTE networks, covering studies on the
                                                      During the earlier stages of drug discovery
                                                                                                      incidence, treatment and outcomes of certain
                                                   and development, scientists deploy a range
                                                                                                      types of infection, as well as clinical trials of
                                                   of tests and tools to study diseases, identify
                                                                                                      novel anti-infectives.
                                                   potential drugs, and determine whether
                                                                                                         In the field of Alzheimer’s disease, our EPAD
                                                   a potential drug will actually be safe and
                                                                                                      project is establishing a group of 6 000 people
                                                   effective in humans. Currently, the results of
                                                                                                      at risk of developing Alzheimer’s who could
                                                   these tools are often unreliable as they do not
                                                                                                      be rapidly recruited into innovative clinical
                                                   accurately replicate what is happening inside
                                                                                                      trials of drugs designed to prevent or at least
                                                   the human body. To address this issue, many
                                                                                                      delay the onset of the disease. Currently 10
                                                   IMI projects are delivering improved tests and
                                                                                                      sites across Europe are recruiting volunteers,
                                                   tools.
  Pierre MEULIEN                                                                                      and the project hopes to start the first trials
                                                      For example, our ORBITO project designed        in 2018.
  Executive Director, Innovative                   a new tool, based on an artificial membrane,
  Medicines Initiative                             for predicting how a drug will be absorbed in
                                                   the body. Several companies have integrated        IMI projects deliver resources
                                                   ORBITO tools into their R&D processes.             that are accessible to the wider
                                                   Elsewhere, our PREDECT project developed           research community
                                                   the first animal model of a common form of            Many IMI projects are delivering resources
                                                   breast cancer that faithfully replicates the       for drug discovery that are open for use by
                                                   human disease. The model has been hailed as        the wider research community. These include
                                                   ‘a potential game-changer for breast cancer        online platforms that allow scientists to

T       he Innovative Medicines Initiative         research’.                                         rapidly find the information they need in just a
        (IMI) has now launched close on 100           In the respiratory disease field, our PRO-      few clicks, as well as physical facilities that offer
        projects, and these are delivering         active project developed patient-reported          researchers the opportunity to identify and
results that are already making a dif-             outcome (PRO) tools for chronic obstructive        further develop potential drugs. A catalogue
ference to the medical research and drug           pulmonary disease (COPD) which accurately          of resources developed by IMI projects can be
development community. Looking to                  assess patients’ activity levels and the impact    found in the ‘Projects and results’ section of
the future, we are committed to pushing            of the disease on their daily lives. The tools     the new IMI website.
the boundaries of open innovation, by              are being used by companies, including at             One important contribution of our projects
expanding the involvement of other sectors         least one from outside the project, and are        to the wider community is knowledge, as dis-
(including diagnostics, medical technology,        currently under review with the European           seminated through publications in scientific
digital technologies, human nutrition and          Medicines Agency (EMA).                            journals. By the end of 2016, IMI projects had
animal health) in the IMI community, and              Another project whose outputs have              published over 2 600 papers in the scientific
by strengthening our ties with similar ini-        received support from both the EMA and the         literature. What’s more, the citation impact
tiatives elsewhere in the world, especially on     US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is           (which measures how often a paper is cited in
issues with a global impact like Alzheimer’s       SAFE-T. The SAFE-T team developed improved         subsequent papers) for all IMI papers is 2.03.
disease and antimicrobial resistance.              tools for the prediction, detection, and moni-     This is almost twice the EU average and is com-
                                                   toring of drug-induced injuries to the kidney,     parable to that of other organisations with a
  IMI was launched in 2008 as a public-private     liver, and vascular system, using markers in       similar remit to IMI, namely the Wellcome
partnership (PPP) between the European             patients’ blood and/or urine. Application of       Trust (2.05) and the US Foundation for the
Union and the European Federation of               these biomarkers will make drugs safer, and        National Institutes of Health (1.96). Analyses
Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations         reduce the number of drugs that have to be         also reveal that just over a quarter of papers
(EFPIA). Since then, we have launched almost       abandoned late in development.                     from IMI projects are ‘highly cited’, meaning
100 projects, all of which take a collaborative,      IMI projects are also delivering new            they are in the top 10 % of papers by journal
open innovation approach to some of the            networks for running clinical trials. In antimi-   category and year of publication.
biggest challenges in medical research and         crobial resistance, IMI’s COMBACTE family             One of IMI’s most high-profile projects
drug development today. Our successes amply        of projects is building self-sustaining, pan-      delivering resources for the scientific com-
demonstrate the value of this approach, as         European antibacterial development networks        munity is the European Lead Factory. Here,
our projects are delivering knowledge, tools       and is using them to run high-quality clinical     7 pharmaceutical companies contributed
and resources that scientists are using in their   studies. For example, CLIN-Net is a network of     compounds from their own collections
daily work to improve the drug development         over 800 hospitals in 42 European countries        to create an initial joint collection of over
process.                                           capable of quickly and reliably recruiting         300 000 compounds. Since the start of the
You can also read