Brussels funds new medicine research projects

Published: 29-Mar-2011

Eight projects will develop treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and infectious diseases


The European Commission has announced a further €172m of funding for the European Union’s (EU) Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), with eight new public-private research and development projects being launched.

The projects will develop new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and infectious diseases.

The Predect, Oncotrack and Quic-Concept projects will focus on lung, prostate, ovarian, breast and colon cancers, while RAPP-ID and BTCure will develop novel diagnostic tools for infectious diseases and rheumatoid arthritis. DDMoRe, Open-Phacts and EHR4CR will create common standards and data sharing methods for future collaborations in drug development.

The projects will last between two-and-a-half and five years.

Roch Doliveux, chief executive of Belgium-based UCB, and a board member of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), said: ‘EFPIA considers IMI as a key instrument to implement the new business models which will ensure the sustainability of pharmaceutical industries across Europe.’ He said public-private partnerships would ‘improve the efficiency of…pharmaceutical companies…’

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