With the IMI public-private alliance up to 2013 2 billion up for grabs
We start immediately with a 123 million tender to support the most promising research to discover the medicines of tomorrow on three therapeutic fronts: brain disorders, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The "call for proposal", officially launched in Brussels on 30 April, is labelled "imi": L'«Innovative medicines initiative», a maxi public-private partnership that brings together the European Commission and the pharmaceutical industry of the Union which is part of Efpia (the European federation of pill companies). The «IMI» was born within the seventh research framework program 2008-2013 and in particular of the «Joint technology initiatives» (Jti) which aim to combine private efforts with funds put in place by the public. Among the six areas on which the «Jti» are betting there are precisely the research on medicines with the «Imi». Which in the next five years will have the beauty of 2 billion euros available to spend on five sectors. In addition to the three already mentioned, all those projects for the development of new medicines to fight cancer and infectious diseases will also be financed. However, the objective of «IMI» is not to directly finance the production of new drugs, but to identify tools and strategies to help their development, eliminating the bottlenecks and obstacles that prevent their creation and, finally, supporting , the new frontier of biotechnology. In particular, all those research projects that focus on the identification of products with the best risk-benefit ratio and greater therapeutic efficacy will be financed. But also those researches that will work on the development and identification of "biomarkers" that can be used as tools to better understand the functioning of a disease and the effects of a new pharmaceutical molecule. But the research projects that can aspire to win the substantial funds of the "Innovative medicines initiative" are also those related to the "management" of research: from studies on safety and efficacy to information sharing, simulations, etc. Finally, the European funds will also go to support those projects that aim to reduce the gaps in education and training needed for the development of innovative medicines. «The IMI's objectives are ambitious – explained the European Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik – Europe can finally become a major player in biopharmaceutical research». Mar.B. Il Sole 24 Ore Sanita' of 13/05/2008 N.19 – 13/19 MAY 2008 p. 8
