BIO Deutschland participates in the Innovative Health Initiative launch event
The Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) held its launch event in March. IHI seeks to build on the successes of and lessons learned from the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI). The aim of IHI is to help create an EU-wide health research and innovation ecosystem that facilitates the translation of scientific knowledge into tangible innovations. IHI will contribute to a number of European policies, most notably Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the new Industrial Strategy for Europe and the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.
Claudia Baumann, of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and Sabine Steiner-Lange and Jan Skriwanek, both of the National Contact Point Health, jointly delivered the opening remarks at the launch event. This was followed by talks by Pierre Meulien, Executive Director of IHI JU, who provided insights into the initiative, and by representatives from Bayer, Sanofi and Siemens Healthineers, who gave an overview of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and the process by which topics are generated.
BIO Germany participated in the panel discussion, where it highlighted the expectations, concerns and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of the new edition of the initiative. There are great opportunities, in particular with regard to expanding the scope beyond pharmaceuticals to include diagnostics and medical technology. IHI will indeed focus more on cross-sectoral projects involving the biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, including companies operating in the digital domain.
Like IMI, IHI will work by bringing together diverse stakeholders (universities, companies large and small, and other health stakeholders) in collaborative projects that address disease areas where there is a high burden on patients and/or society.
The speakers’ presentations are available publicly on the event website:
https://nksg-ihi.ascrion.com/tagesordnung.