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A leap forward in the effectiveness of biomedical research - for better patient outcomes
EATRIS marks official start to developing Europe’s translational research of the future
Amsterdam, October 1, 2011
Today marks the official start of EATRIS, a pan-European network of translational research infrastructure in medicine. Building on a successful commencement phase funded by the European Commission in 2007-2010, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands are parties to the new agreement, with 3 more countries expected to follow by Q4 2011 and early 2012. EATRIS is one of the Research Infrastructures, initiated by the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
Translational research improves the effective translation of excellent biomedical research into drugs, diagnostics and medical devices. EATRIS provides simple, one-stop-shop access to the technologies and expertise residing in Europe’s best research institutions and companies and other research groups collaborating with it can expect more effective translation of their fundamental scientific breakthroughs into promising products. Key disease areas are cancer, cardiovascular, neurology, immunological, metabolic and infectious diseases.
By combining the strengths of governments, academia and innovative companies, Europe can expect a leap forward in biomedical research to improve patient outcomes. EATRIS is also a response to the global decline in productivity in the biopharmaceutical sector. “Now is the time to take concerted and coordinated action to address the significant health and productivity challenges facing Europe ”, says Giovanni Migliaccio, Scientific Director of EATRIS. “EATRIS is an important weapon in these ongoing efforts and by working together, these consortia will improve healthcare provision and make Europe’s biopharmaceutical sector more competitive and more responsive to the needs of the public health sector.
While the pharmaceutical industry yearly spends $ 60 billion on R&D of new medicines, many healthcare challenges remain. Only 10% of the medicines under development, mostly for treatment of common diseases, will reach the market and this makes novel medicines extremely expensive. Moreover, even the medicines which are approved are (to variable extent) only effective in a small proportion of the indicated patient group and hence a paradigm shift is needed in which academics and industry share facilities and expertise”.
The new coordination & support offices of EATRIS are located on the campus of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. Key objectives include creating a simple and effective ‘one-stop-shop’ access platform via the coordination office, and bringing the infrastructure consortia to project readiness. In 2012 pilot joint research projects will be launched along with the EATRIS operations to support them.