30th Edition – December 2013

IMI’s 11th Call for proposals launched

On 11 December 2013 IMI launched its 11th Call for proposals. The Call has the following topics:

• Applied public-private research enabling osteoarthritis clinical headway
• European platform for proof of concept for prevention in Alzheimer’s Disease
• Blood-based biomarker assays for personalised tumour therapy: value of latest circulating biomarkers
• Zoonoses anticipation and preparedness initiative
• Generation of research tools to translate genomic discoveries into drug discovery projects
• EcoRisk Prediction

Topics under the New Drugs for Bad Bugs (ND4BB) programme on antimicrobial resistance:

• Epidemiology research and development of novel systemic antibacterial molecules against healthcare-associated infections due to Gram-negative pathogens
• Development of novel inhaled antibiotic regimens in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and patients with non-CF bronchiectasis (BE)

The deadline for submission of Expressions of Interests (EoIs) is 8 April 2014.
The full Call text as well as details of how to apply can be found on the 11th Call Stage 1 page

Join the IMI 11th Call webinars

From 7 to 17 January 2014, IMI will hold webinars on all 11th Call topics. Each topic will have a dedicated webinar. The events will feature a presentation of the Call topic by the EFPIA topic coordinator as well as time for questions and answers. The webinars will therefore represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about the topics, interact directly with the topic coordinators, and get in touch with potential project partners. Registration is free but obligatory. As places are limited, early registration is recommended.

• For more information and to register, visit the webinar web page
• Learn more about the 11th Call topics

Find partners for your consortium

Having the right partners in your consortium is a fundamental aspect of your proposal. Evaluators will assess your proposal based on the consortium’s ability to investigate and fulfil all aspects of the Call topic. A consortium featuring strategic partnership is thus a key factor during the evaluation process. The best ways to find partners for your consortium are to activate your professional network, participate in networking events and identify colleagues, individuals and organisations who may share your interest in submitting a proposal for an IMI project.  In order to facilitate networking, IMI also provides an online partner search tool for people, organisations and enterprises interested in participating in future IMI projects.

The tool helps experts in the hunt for potential partners for an Expression of Interest in response to an IMI Call for proposals. The partner search tool allows you to look for partners by subject area as well as by organisation type – large industry, patient organisation, regulatory agency, research organisation, SME, university, venture capitalist etc. – and by country. People who used the partner search tool for IMI’s previous Calls for proposals are advised to update their profiles to reflect the new topics that they are interested in.

• The Partner Search Tool is accessible through the IMI website

IMI contributes to G8 Dementia Summit

IMI was an active participant of the recent G8 Dementia Summit, which was hosted by the UK Government on 11 December in London. The event coincided with the launch of IMI’s 11th Call for proposals, which includes a topic to test a new approach to clinical trials for drugs designed to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The topic was announced by the EU’s Health Commissioner, Tonio Borg, in his speech during the opening session of the event, and in a later session by Paul Stoffels of J&J, the company leading the topic. IMI Executive Director Michel Goldman also had the opportunity to explain more about the project during a discussion. Finally, IMI was cited in the summit communique.

• Read IMI’s press release on the Alzheimer’s topic

How well do patients know IMI and what is in for them?

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are relatively well known to patients, and IMI was the partnership most frequently given as an example, according to a study carried out for IMI by the London School of Economics (LSE). The most well-known IMI project was EUPATI, followed by EUROPAIN. The study aimed to assess the potential for patient involvement in IMI projects, and to make recommendations for further collaboration.

Most respondents thought IMI played an important role in encouraging research on innovative medicines, felt IMI’s research was relevant to patients and families of their organisation, and were positive about becoming involved in IMI activities. A majority stated education and training activities to enhance patients’ understanding of R&D would be valuable to their organisation, as would being able to give input to the IMI research agenda.

The majority of respondents thought patients could contribute to R&D by helping researchers understand which clinical benefits are important to patients, and by providing input on the design of clinical trials and disseminating results of research. Overall remarks emerging from respondents focused on the need of direct communication and partnership between IMI and patient organisations; simplified and accessible information; education and training for successful participation, as well as a need for a centralised platform to facilitate patient involvement.

Investing in excellence – IMI offers SMEs VC networking opportunity

How important are the health entrepreneurs today? Where is the entrepreneurship going? The challenges facing the drug research and development community are immense and cannot be tackled by any single company, institution, or even country, alone. When IMI was launched in 2008, some wondered if it would be possible to create successful innovation networks of academics, researchers from industry, SMEs, patient groups and regulators.

On 18 February 2014 IMI and the International Venture Club (IVC) will bring together health entrepreneurs, big pharma and specialised SMEs, who have proven unique value through their participation in an IMI project. The agenda includes:

• a debate on the added value of the PPP approach in boosting pharma R&D
• a panel discussion with investment specialists from big pharma about future opportunities for SMEs in the new model for investment
• presentations covering IMI’s SMEs success stories and Horizon 2020 opportunities for SMEs
• networking opportunities
• dedicated, pre-scheduled private exploratory meetings 

If you are an SME involved in one or more IMI projects, and you have products or ideas that you would like to discuss at the IMI Investing in Excellence event, please contact the IMI Events team at IMI_Events@imi.europa.eu and complete the short online survey.

Journal paper highlights success of PPP model

IMI’s achievements demonstrate the efficiency of the public-private partnership (PPP) model of collaboration, according to an article in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal by IMI Principal Scientific Manager Elisabetta Vaudano. Dr Vaudano cites examples from IMI projects.

• SUMMIT has identified new genetic variants associated with kidney disease in diabetes.
• EUROPAIN has uncovered potential drug targets for the treatment of chronic pain.
• EU-AIMS has demonstrated that some of the brain changes associated with autism may be reversible.
• PREDECT has identified a potential new drug target for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
• eTOX is delivering new computer models for assessing the toxicity of potential drugs.
• Open PHACTS has integrated several publicly-available databases and developed applications to query and analyse the data.
• The European Lead Factory is developing a unique, comprehensive, high‐quality compound collection comprising 500 000 compounds.
• K4DD is improving our understanding of how potential drugs bind with their target, and developing methods and tools to allow researchers to study drug-target interactions with greater ease.

‘Public-private partnerships represent attractive means to leverage resources dispersed across industry, academia, and voluntary health organisations in order to address its multiple challenges, in an era of constrained resources,’ the article concludes. ‘The reported achievements of IMI projects demonstrate that this approach can lead to significant advances for the development of innovative drugs.’

European Lead Factory highlighted in Nature Medicine review of 2013

The launch of IMI’s European Lead Factory project was cited as the highlight in February in Nature Medicine’s review of 2013. Under the heading ‘formidable factory’, the article explains how the project will open up opportunities to test promising new drug compounds. Other highlights of 2013 include the launch of the Human Brain Project, the naming of the new coronavirus ‘Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus’ (or MERS-CoV for short), and the US Supreme Court ruling that human genes cannot be patented.

Season’s Greetings

IMI would like to wish all its partners and stakeholders a merry Christmas and all the best for 2014.

The IMI Executive Office is closed from 24 December 2013 to 2 January 2014 inclusive. During this period, any urgent queries should be sent to antoine.cuvillierATimi.europa.eu (24-28 December) or ewa.zettergrenATimi.europa.eu (29 December – 2 January).