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SMEs go Health - a benefit for you?

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

During the last three years, SMEs go Health supported you in many different ways: As the project has now ended you might raise the question: What will happen with my expertise profile in the database after the end of the SMEs go Health initiative?

Building on the success of the SMEs go Health project, the Commission published a new topic in the 4^th Health Call, promoting the participation of high-technology research-intensive SMEs, operating in the Health sector.

Most of the SMEs go Health consortium members have been involved in the preparation of a new proposal for this topic hoping that, if selected for funding, they will be able to continue to support SMEs in Health Research in the future. The outcome of the evaluation will be known by March/April 2010.

In any case, the members of this new consortium will continue their support of SMEs and academia. Importantly, the related initiative “Health NCP Net” (www.healthncpnet.eu) will contribute to the maintenance of the SMEs go Health database and ensure highest quality of expertise profiles from SMEs and academia gathered in this outstanding pool.

The synergistic benefits with the Health NCP Net were already established during the last years, with several members of the SMEs go Health consortium actively involved in both networks. Therefore, highest commitment and continuous quality assurance are given in order to keep the support for SMEs and academia in the Health-related sector in the best way.

Finally, SMEs go Health is announcing a survey, estimating your particular training needs for upcoming trainings to be organised by the new consortium.
Please click here to download the one-page questionnaire.

After a three-year duration, SMEs go Health will wind up at the end of January 2010.

For this reason we reviewed our activities:

How did the initiative support you?

The SMEs go Health initiative with a consortium of 29 institutions from 27 countries, launched in 2007, was designed to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and academic researchers interested in research cooperation and participation in the 7th EU Framework Programme (FP7), particularly in the Health-related area. As a main objective, the number and quality of involvement of SMEs and SME groupings in Health related projects of FP7 should be raised.

SMEs go Health supported both SMEs aiming to get involved in research projects and researchers looking for suitable SMEs as partners in their consortium. It thus focused on information and training, as well as on consortium building and matchmaking of SMEs and researchers preparing EU project proposals in the “Health” area. The project addressed all types of researchers, from companies, universities or research organisations, whether they act as project coordinators or partners. Strong emphasis was placed on the support of New Member States and Associated Countries.

► We assisted & supported SMEs and academia

A remarkable amount of quality checked expertise profiles of SMEs and academia have been presented in an on-line database. More than 800 SMEs and 1000 academics used this platform to present their expertise and know-how to the scientific community. They are increasing their visibility among Europe’s research community in Life Sciences and maximising their chance to be identified as potential research partners for EU funded projects. The consortium assisted coordinating SMEs and researchers in finding appropriate partners for collaborative projects. During the run-up phase of previous FP7 Health Calls, partner searches have been supported and SMEs and academics were instructed and guided by the network in preparing proposals as either project coordinators or partners.

►We informed & trained SMEs and academia using different routes

In addition to personal assistance for SMEs and academia, the SMEs go Health initiative designed a so called “First Aid package” giving hands-on advice on general aspects of FP7, partner search, proposal preparation, financial guidelines and IPRs. A special focus on key players in the Health-related landscape in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey was placed in a dedicated booklet. Both brochures are available online on the SMEs go Health website.

Trans-national training workshops organised in Riga, Berlin, Paris, Istanbul and Stockholm addressed SMEs and academia from all over Europe and other international countries. The workshops provided extensive information on research areas in Health and Biotechnology, funding opportunities, and experience reports from successful coordinators and evaluators. Hands-on trainings offered special sections like financial aspects or the conceptual design of an EU-Project including tips for planning. Find the content of our trainings on our website.

►We matched SMEs and academia by using complementary instruments

SMEs go Health strongly fostered SMEs and researchers in building consortia in the preparation phase of Health Calls by different methods:
Virtual brokerage events were launched during the run-up phase of Health Calls, bringing together SMEs and academic institutions as potential “groups of interest” around specific topics of the work programme. This served to encourage contact and discussion between potential collaboration partners, aiming to pave the way to collaborative research projects. As an accompanying result, new registrations of SMEs and academia for the SMEs go Health database peaked.

For facilitating partner searches in a more personal way, partnering days were organised in Krakow, London, Prague and Vienna, offering the possibility for bilateral meetings. SMEs and academia had the opportunity to select or be selected by cooperation partners, personally presenting their expertise and needs and project ideas. Meetings of numerous prospective partners offered the possibility to establish contacts and partnerships of high relevance.

►We highlighted your success

Success stories from fruitful cooperations in FP7 projects gathered from previous FP7 Health Calls are displayed on the SMEs go Health website – they were distributed at the occasion of national and international events all over Europe, thus maximising the promotion of successfully operating organisations.

We hope to support you also for your upcoming activities and plans in the health-related sector!

Ines Haberl – Coordination of SMEs go Health
FFG-Austrian Research Promotion Agency - European and International Programmes
Sensengasse 1, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
ines.haberl@ffg.at

Health research excellence in the spotlight: Portugal

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In our newsletter, we present key research and innovation actors in the “Health” area of European Member States, Associated Countries and Candidate Countries. In this newsletter, we are introducing several Portuguese researchers and SMEs willing to participate in FP7 research projects. We invite you to learn more about the expertise of potential new partners for your FP7 projects!

Portugal has excellent research groups in the health and biotechnological sector. The results obtained by its research gave origin to many spin-off companies, which rapidly turned into SMEs and continued independently and successfully. Most of the key players in this area are present in the SMEs go Health (SGH) database. However, you can have access to a large number of research institutes and companies by consulting the following associations:

the Health Cluster Portugal (HCP)
the Portuguese Association for Bioindustries (APBio)

On our website, we are highlighting some of the Portuguese research institutes and companies which are in the SGH database, covering different areas of expertise.

Dept. of Polymer Engineering, University of Minho

The 3B's Research Group - Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics - of the Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal, aims at developing new materials to be used in a range of biomedical and environmental applications.

Its research is focused on the development of new polymeric and composite BIOMATERIALS from natural origin and mainly from renewable resources (starch, chitin, chitosan and its derivatives, casein, soy, algae, and others).

Several BIODEGRADABLE systems are being studied for applications related with bone replacement/fixation/cements, tissue engineering scaffolding and tissue regeneration, systems for controlled release of drugs or bioactive agents, and environmental degradable plastics.

The group applies a research approach in which the researchers always try to learn from nature, understand its functioning and mimic it by designing innovative BIOMIMETIC processing routes and materials.

More specifically, its research activities are: tissue engineering (TE) of bone, cartilage and osteochondral defects; production of porous biomaterials and TE scaffolds, including rapid prototyping approaches; systems for the controlled release of bioactive agents; polymer science applied to the development of new materials; characterization of biomaterials under dynamic loads; behaviour in simulated physiological solutions and degradation mechanisms; processing and characterization of biodegradable systems including the development of bioactive and bioinert composites; surface modification of biomaterials and TE scaffolds, including patterning (nano and micro); biomaterials-protein interactions; hydrogels and novel degradable bone cements; nanobiotechnology applied to regenerative medicine; smart and responsive materials for tissue engineering and sustained release; biocompatibility and immunological responses to biomaterials; adult stem cells: Isolation, culturing and differentiation; co-culture systems for tissue engineering applications and in-vivo tests for biocompatibility and TE constructs functionality assessment.

They have several publications, one patent on a device for Tissue Engineering a Bone Equivalent and are involved in several national and international projects.
The 3B´s research group was involved in the Framework Programme (FP) project “GENOSTEM”, developing an in-vitro and in-vivo test of biomaterial scaffolds with hBMSCs for bone and cartilage regeneration.
More information is provided on the web-page of 3B´s: http://www.3bs.uminho.pt/

Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM)

The mission of Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) is to foster basic, clinical and translational biomedical research with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of disease mechanisms, developing novel predictive tests, improving diagnostics tools and developing new therapeutic approaches.

IMM research activity is focused in three research programmes: Cell and Developmental Biology; Immunology and Infectious Diseases; and Neurosciences.

Amongst the pathologies investigated at IMM, emphasis is given to diseases caused by ischaemia (namely cerebral thrombosis) and neuronal degeneration (Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease). Ongoing research projects are targeted at developing new cellular and pharmacological treatments for neuronal injury and improved methods for the induction of new vessels in situations of ischaemia. In parallel, the role of diet and the predictive value of mutations in genes candidate to risk/susceptibility factors for cardio and cerebrovascular diseases are studied. IMM research teams also focus on the development of experimental treatments against cancer and infectious diseases (namely AIDS, herpes and hepatitis C) and investigate the mechanisms that lead to antiviral and antibacterial drug resistance.

The Institute promotes interaction between academy and industry by hosting start ups in Health sciences and promoting exchange of materials and knowledge between IMM units and these start ups, eg TechnoPhage, SA (see below).

More information is provided on the web-page of IMM: http://www.imm.fm.ul.pt/web/imm/home

TechnoPhage

TechnoPhage, SA is a Biotech company engaged in two main R&D programmes:

Bacteriophages
Research and development of novel products, based on the unique properties of bacteriophages, for the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of bacterial infections. Current work is focused on the research and development of new products targeting nosocomial, community and food industry infections. Different products are being developed with two main purposes:
- Specific elimination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (therapy and sanitation)
- Detection and quantification of live microorganisms (diagnostic devices)

Recombinant antibodies
Research and development on recombinant antibodies with therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

TechnoPhage continuously strives to increase the number of proprietary products, through an active research and development program and collaboration agreements. TechnoPhage also delivers research and development services for diverse pharmaceutical companies.

Web-page of TechnoPhage: http://www.technophage.pt/

IBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica

IBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, is the largest Private-Non-Profit Biotechnology Research Organisation in Portugal. It brings together, as partners and collaborators, public institutions and private companies. Its mission is to foster the competitiveness of its customers and partners, by creating wealth out of knowledge of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology. IBET's targeted economic areas are pharmaceuticals and health care, agroforestry, agroindustry and the environment.

IBET´s main activities are:

- Fundamental Research: carried out by IBET and its partner institutions under collaborative agreements with companies. In this area IBET acts mainly as an activator for the development of new scientific competences with economic relevance.

Applied Research and Laboratory Space: carried out in IBET's 16 modular laboratories that are reserved for industry related activities. Laboratories can be leased on an annual contractual basis, and R&D projects can be carried out either by IBET's scientists, by client scientists, or by joint-teams.
Transfer of Technologies and Processes to Industry from Pilot Plant Scale: IBET's Pilot Plant, validated and documented for current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), can be leased by clients, as a whole or on a modular basis, for bioreaction and/or downstream processes.
GLP Highly Qualified Services: IBET offers high quality analytical, biochemical and microbiological services within its Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) certified laboratories and activities.
Support to Foreign Companies: IBET's competences and services can be particularly useful for companies aiming to become established in Portugal or to enter the European market through Portugal.
Support to Start up Companies: IBET aims to nurse start up companies creating wealth and enlarging the organisation of human resources in Portugal.

More information is provided on the web-page of IBET : http://www.ibet.pt/

ALFAMA

ALFAMA is a young pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of small-molecule drugs for unmet medical needs. ALFAMA's innovative science and aggressive business approach has allowed the company to recruit top talent researchers from around the world, even at its current early stage, and to gain control of all the intellectual property in its field. The core of ALFAMA's science is developed at state-of-the-art research facilities in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon (Portugal), where the company originally started, and Boston (Massachusetts, USA), where the headquarters of the mother company Alfama, Inc. are located.

Its main area of research is in carbon monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) which hold the promise of contributing decisively to the prevention and cure of diseases involving inflammatory, infectious, thrombotic and apoptotic processes. Animal data indicates that various CORMs can be effective against ailments such as acute liver failure, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, transplant rejection, myocardial infarction, stroke, NSAID-induced gastric ulcers, hypertension and infection by antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

Alfama has been invited to give presentations all over the world and has also been funded at national level. Moreover, they submitted, as a coordinator, a proposal on Arthritis to the FP7 “Research for the benefit of SMEs” programme, which has been approved and is now waiting for funding.

More information is provided on the web-page of Alfama : http://www.alfama.com.pt/

ECBio

ECBio is a privately-held company founded in December 1999 as a consultancy company. ECBio established its own animal cell facilities in 2002, when it shifted its focus to research and development in biotechnology.
ECBio was recently awarded with two major financial incentives from the Portuguese government in order to continue developing its two major areas of intervention, namely:
- Stem cell technology directed towards cell therapies
- Anticancer compounds

ECBio is engaged in several research projects aiming at developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the area of human adult stem cell isolation and differentiation. ECBio collaborates with academia, pharma and health care institutions in order to generate innovation in the area of cell therapy. Presently, ECBio is launching specific growth media for growing both human and porcine islets, containing insulin producing beta cells. ECBio is also involved in clinical trials for implementing pre-osteoblasts in dental implants and lesions in spinal cord. Presently, ECBio is also developing new protocols for adult stem cell isolation from innovative sources. ECBio can provide cell types and cell lines with phenotypes on demand.

The company has been actively involved in several projects of the EU Framework Programme: BARP +, OSTEOCORD and TargetScreen. Its activities in the projects were:
development of islet-specific growth media (diabetes); differentiation of umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal cells into osteoblasts and development of epithelial cell lines for cystic fibrosis drug screening.

More information is provided on the web-page of ECBio : http://www.ecbio.com

Bioalvo

BIOALVO designs and develops several applications derived from its technology platform, GPS D2 (Global Platform Screening for Drug Discovery), aimed at the discovery of new drugs focusing on central nervous system disorders
These applications comprise entirely innovative solutions that allow the identification of efficient new drugs with therapeutic potential for unmet medical needs. Using the diverse applications of BIOALVO’s innovative and patented platform GPS D2, they can accelerate and improve the efficiency of the first stages in the discovery of new drugs, reducing significantly the duration time and, consequently, the costs of this process. Coupling this powerful tool with a unique and proprietary source of new leads – PharmaBUG Collection - BIOALVO fosters the discovery of new and more efficient drug candidates to their own and their partners’ portfolio.

This portfolio of very potent drug screening platforms can search drug-candidates not only for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, but also for oncological and/or infectious conditions, and has already generated some drug candidates with potential clinical applications in CNS disorders.

They focus their research and development efforts on the search for modulators of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity, NAD+/NADH levels and misfolding/aggregation diseases. Additionally, their PAIN programme is currently in the preclinical stage.

BIOALVO has many publications, has participated in several conferences and also holds some patents. It is also involved in national projects and in international ones funded by the European Commission: PEP2BRAIN (IAPP) and NEURASYN (ITN). Its main activities in these projects were, respectively, Development of analgesic peptides in BIOALVO's pipeline and Study of the synergistic effect of ASYN/tau interaction using yeast as a model organism.

More information is provided on the web-page of Bioalvo: http://www.bioalvo.com/

Biotecnol

Biotecnol is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, engineering and development of novel multifunctional antibody molecules, directed to key therapeutic targets. Using its Tribody™ technology, Biotecnol is developing a pipeline of products for applications in major disease areas such as oncology.

Biotecnol applies its antibody technologies, product development and manufacturing experience to generate, support and out-license human antibody products. Biotecnol SA carries its product development activities via its fully owned subsidiary Biotecnol Pharma, Inc., based in Durham, NC, USA.
Through its headquarters in Portugal, Biotecnol leverages its business income by establishing in-house partner-led or collaborative programmes, which provide Biotecnol a strong client-based activity and an established track record. Biotecnol uses its proprietary expression technology, cell line development capabilities, upstream and downstream processing, analytics and QC experience for delivering GMP/GLP compliant processes for biomanufacturing.

In 2004 Biotecnol started the development of a promising pipeline of products in the oncology field. It further obtained granted patents on antibody engineering technology.

Biotecnol SA business strategy focuses on developing products from laboratory through preclinical research, scale-up, clinical trials and manufacturing. Biotecnol may be contracted on a fee for service basis, but our preferred business model consists in establishing strategic collaborations with partners, in order to co-develop product candidates through pre-clinical and clinical activities, up to commercialisation. It is actively developing an anti-HER2 antibody for breast & gastric cancer and an anti-PTHrP antibody for renal cell carcinoma, and Cardiotrophin-1 for liver & kidney diseases.

In addition to the services & products, Biotecnol is also developing two platform technologies for developing next-generation therapeutics: Tribody & EDA platforms.

Biotecnol participated in FP by participating in the project “Apoptosis-inducing plasmovirus for use in the treatment of human cancer” in which they performed the process development of gene therapy vector and production of clinical grade batches.
More information is provided on the web-page: http://www.biotecnol.com/

Over 90% of SMEs consider their participation in EU funded project a success. How can we learn from their experiences?

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A recent study financed by the European Commission (project “KAPPA-Health”) indicated that over 90% of research-intensive SMEs having participated in a FP6 co-financed research project considered their participation as a success and 50% of these have already generated commercial return.

Over the last decades advances in biomedical technologies and bioengineering have provided a multitude of possibilities for new products and services to prevent diseases, make diagnosis and provide new therapeutics. However, despite substantial progress in biomedical research, commercialisation of new biomedical products and services is a difficult task for numerous reasons. Although entrepreneurs are increasingly tempted to commercialise their inventions, the success rate is low and the survival of a start-up depends on its capacity to access large funding rounds, spending many years without financial return.
This is a strong handicap for investors during a period when capital markets are at low levels.

The problem is particularly acute in healthcare biotechnology where product development can take up to 12 years before a viable, marketable product is achieved. This means that many companies are dependent on external funding for long periods of time in order to maintain high quality research and development activities.

Obtaining public funding is one way of containing this financial gap and increasing the chances of survival for high-tech, small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The EU 6th and 7th framework programmes are one source of these funds.

The KAPPA-Health project aims to assess the success factors which lead healthcare companies to generate value from their participation in a co-funded research project. This assessment will also be of a help to determine a company planning, once they decide to apply for an FP7 project.

The first step of the KAPPA-Health project involved surveying nearly 200 SMEs to ascertain these “success factors” and interesting results can be seen below. The second step, already underway, will involve interviewing a further selected 40 companies for in-depth interviews and analysis.

Participation in an EU funded project was a complete success for 58% of the SMEs that answered the questionnaire.

Knowledge is the main result obtained by at least 80% of the SMEs. Only one SME in their sample did not obtain any interesting results.

Furthermore, SMEs have stated that their participation in EU projects allowed them to increase their network, find new customers, access complementary expertise and become more visible at an international level.

Getting commercially exploitable results from their participation in the research project was not mentioned as the main objective. This is not surprising as the criteria for participation in FP6/FP7 is to develop pre-competitive scientific research.

Interesting findings include:

76% of successful enterprises have participated in projects which corresponded to their core activity.
Typically successful companies have also participated in more than one project (80%) and had previous contacts with their partners.
For most successful SMEs, 83% of the projects lead to research contacts and 50% to business contracts.
In general, SMEs prefer to participate in small or medium size projects which are easier to manage.

Some preliminary conclusions can be drafted about success factors that allow a company to benefit from its participation in EU research projects and to prove viability of new technologies in view of commercialisation.

KAPPA-Health has identified a preliminary list of key success factors that allow a company to benefit from its participation in EU research projects and to prove viability of new technologies in view of commercialisation:

The project should preferably be in line with the SMEs core activity.
The project initiators and coordinators should preferably have been involved in a previous FP research project. The second project presented by an SME is often more successful than the first one.
The preparation of a project with an expert or the support of specialised services can help to better identify the role of each partner and expected results.
For an SME, it is better to be involved in FP projects with partners from an existing network.
SMEs prefer smaller projects: the size of an SME and the size of the project may influence the relationship between partners. If an SME is small, it will have more difficulty finding its place and being successful in larger projects.
SMEs should take advantage of their academic research close environment: Spin- offs from universities or organised clusters seem to be favoured by their pre-existing research networks.

Another important aspect is that 90% of the SMEs participating in FP6 projects had been able to co-finance the project. This was made possible through a combination of external private funds and own resources for the unfinanced part (15%) of the grant.

The KAPPA-Health partners also organize workshops and train SMEs on how to access funding for research and development. Interviews and coaching of SMEs will be conducted by KAPPA-Health partners in the months to come. If you wish to participate in this enquiry please contact the project Coordinator:

Dr. Jacques Viseur,
EuroTop Cooperation Partners

e-mail: jviseur@eurotop.be

The 7th edition of SME Update Newsletter addresses the theme of Health programme.

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This online newsletter published by the DG Research includes news, results, policy and points of view covering all areas of European research for SMEs.

This edition published on 15 December 09, features three interesting articles for Health SMEs.

The first article presents the EC SME strategy in Health, a second one gives some highlights on successful support services to SMEs by interviewing Ines Haberl, coordinator of “SMEs go Health” and the last article presents the project ANGIOSTOP, qualified as a success story by Titti Niskanen ().

Read the Newsletter

Information on a Call for Proposals on ALTERNATIVE TESTING STRATEGIES within the HEALTH THEME under the 7th European RTD Framework Programme (FP7) ; EC - COLIPA joint scheme

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On 30 July 2009, the European Commission launched a Call for Proposals on the development of a strategy towards alternative solutions to animal testing in the field of repeated dose systemic toxicity, focusing on the following topics:

the development and use of advanced organ-simulating devices as alternatives for long-term toxicity testing;
the optimisation of current methodologies and development of novel methods to achieve functional differentiation of humanbased target cells in vitro that change the focus from rodent systems to the more refined human models allowing to identify human toxicological biomarkers and endpoints;
the establishment of endpoints and intermediate markers in human-based target cells with relevance for repeated dose systemic toxicity testing;
the optimisation of computational modelling and estimation techniques;
the exploitation of systems biology, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling and (quantitative) structureactivity relationship ((Q)SAR) approaches, for the development of predictive causal computer models to forecast the toxicological potential of previously uncharacterized chemical compounds.
integrated data analysis and servicing.

In addition to the six above-listed collaborative projects, applicants are invited to submit proposals for a coordinating action in the topic area (large-scale integrating project).
In all cases only up to one project can be funded per topic.

Call identifier: FP7-HE ALTH-2010-Alternative Testing Strategies
More information on this call is available at www.cordis.europa.eu

Sources of Financing

European Commission commitment:
European Commission financial contribution: up to EUR 25 million
Cosmetic industry commitment:

Industry consortium contribution: up to EUR 25 million

For each proposal selected by the European Commission, the cosmetic industry is committed to providing additional funding. The funding shall be equal in each case to the European Commission’s contribution (50% of eligible costs).

The European Commission selected proposals may therefore be funded up to 100% of the total eligible costs.

The Application Process

The evaluation and selection of proposals will be handled exclusively by the European Commission.

FP7 rules for submission of proposals, and the related evaluation, selection and award procedures apply and due procedures carried out by the European Commission. FP7 rules also apply with regard to intellectual property rights provisions.

Applications should be sent to the European Commission only.
Projects selected for funding by the European Commission will also receive funding by the cosmetic industry (COLIPA).

The cosmetic industry will then co-fund the projects selected by the European Commission on the basis of a Simplified Grant Agreement concluded between the cosmetic industry and the Researchers.

To obtain the funding, the coordinators of the selected projects should contact COLIPA.
.
Further information about the Simplified Grant Agreement will be available soon on this website.

EU Technology Marketplace

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Technology Marketplace is a free online service from the European Commission where you can publish and find research and technological development results and innovative business opportunities on emerging technologies. Technology Marketplace includes exploitable research results, mainly from EU funded research, and a showcase of best results displayed as technology offers.

Information is published about results in a wide range of fields, such as Biology/Medicine, Energy, Environment, IT & Telecommunications and Industrial Technologies. The information can stem from:

• public and private sector organizations
• EU and non EU funded research (regional, national, etc).

All results included in the service are waiting for further exploitation, such as production and/or marketing agreements, further development or funding. The database is updated whenever new results become available (usually on a weekly basis). Results are only published after a quality assessment by CORDIS.

If you are looking for innovative technologies, this database might just be the answer to your needs. Inversely, the EU Technology Marketplace can be an extra dissemination channel for your exploitable results from FP7 or other projects.

Website: http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace/home.html

Presentations of the SMEs go Health' 5th Information and Training Workshop in Stockholm are online

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs go Health has held its 5^th Information and Training Workshop in Stockholm on November 25^th, 2009.

This half-day workshop was attended by companies, research institutes, universities, hospitals and other fields of health, life sciences, genomics and biotechnology. The workshop took place at the occasion of BioTech Forum, the biotech and medtech partnering event: http://www.biotechforum.org.

The workshop provided information on successful proposal preparation, a panel discussion with proposal evaluators, and presented the servcies offered by SMEs go Health.

Presentation slides are available on :

FP7 - ICT open call: health opportunities

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On 24^th November 2009, the 6^th call for proposals in the ICT theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) has been launched. The work programme also contains a number of topics specifically dedicated to health, most of which are to be found in the chapter “Towards sustainable and personalized healthcare”.

The indicative budget of this call amounts to a total of 286 million euro. The deadline for submitting proposals is 13 April 2010.

To see the full details of the call, please consult the following web address: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls

IMI Information Day Report

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On 17^th November 2009, more than 420 delegates attended the Information Day for the 2^nd Call of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) held in Brussels Expo. The event was hosted by the newly autonomous IMI Joint Undertaking, formed by a partnership between the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), which is responsible for the strategy and governance of the Initiative.

The day began with an introduction from Michel Goldman, the Executive Director of IMI, before presentations from Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, Director of the Health Directorate, DG Research and Jackie Hunter, Vice Chair of the EFPIA Research Directors Group giving an overview of the objectives of the Initiative from both the Commission and Industry Partners’ points of view.

The need for fundamental changes to the drug discovery process to overcome some of the common bottlenecks in the pre-competition phase was highlighted by both sides. Following this, the audience heard three case stories of the IMI experience from representatives of the Pharma Industries, SMEs and academic establishments who had taken part in the first call. The morning sessions were rounded off by a practical guide to the application process by Michel Goldman and an extensive Q&A session involving the whole panel.

Because the IMI call topics contain a lot of details and are very specifically described, the afternoon sessions were designed to allow potential participants to learn about the call topics directly from the EFPIA consortia leaders. Three parallel sessions were held, respectively covering the topics within each of the three main themes of the call: Oncology, Infectious diseases and inflammatory disorders, and Knowledge Management. There was good attendance at all three sessions with a representative mix of Pharma Industry, Academic and SMEs.

The presentations from both the morning and afternoon sessions are available on the IMI Website http://imi.europa.eu/events03_en.html.

The call documents and information were made accessible on 27^th November 09 and are now available at http://imi.europa.eu/calls-02_en.html

Please note that the deadline for Expressions of Interest is fixed on 8th February 2010.

Have your say on EU financial rules !

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As part of its second revision of the financial rules for EU-funded programmes, the European Commission has launched a public consultation inviting beneficiaries and managers of public funds to send in their views on how to make the rules for grants and contracts more effective for everyone.

The open consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to share their practical experience so the Commission can, among other things, improve access to grants and simplify its own handling of financial files. This is especially important as the EU begins to prepare the ground for a new generation of programmes in 2014.

More info:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1542&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Consulation: http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations

Open until 18 December 2009

SMEs go Health Partnering Day for "HEALTH"; in the 7th Framework Programme - FP7

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The SMEs go Health Team organized a Partnering Day for HEALTH in the Seventh Framework Programme on October 7^th 2009 in Vienna

This event aimed at bringing together researchers from industry and academia from all over Europe in one place. During pre-arranged face-to-face meetings, participants could initiate cooperation in European research projects in the Health area of FP7.

In the morning session, the participants listened to the presentations on European Initiatives for support - SMEs go Health and SM-BIOPower and an especially fruitful panel discussion on benefits and challenges for partner searches.

The afternoon session was reserved for pre-arranged bilateral meetings, where the participants had the opportunity to meet in person. The basis for the meeting schedule was an online catalogue, where each participating organisation submits in advance its competence profile and its cooperation interest. The goal of these meetings was to initiate cooperation in European research projects in the Health area of FP7.

The event was a real success: around 110 delegates from 22 different countries attended the event and participated in more than 100 bilateral meetings.

Download the presentations of the Partnering Day :

Empowering Biomedical Engineering SMEs to participate in EU research

Supporting research collaboration between SMEs and academia in the „Health“ area of FP7

Health research excellence in the spotlight: Improvements in the Health Domain of Romania

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The healthcare sector has always been a continuous challenge for many countries in Europe and it still is a complex and sensitive topic to be addressed in any part of the world. During the past two decades, Romania has gone through a period of rapid and major changes in every sector, including health.

The health indicators in Romania showed a constant improvement in the last decade and they continue to do so. However, Romania is still behind the most developed countries in Europe when it comes to the organization of the health system across the country.

This is why Romania currently develops and implements projects in order to reinforce key elements of a long-term health sector development strategy and why it implements a reform program. The objectives are to improve efficiency and equity in the planning and regulation of the health service delivery system, reduce preventable deaths among emergency medical cases, improve access and equality in primary health care in poor and remote areas and help the Romanian health sector to better focus on priority public health problems.

In order to demonstrate the elements mentioned above, some successful institutions and companies that contributed and still contribute to the development of the health sector in Romania are presented.

Colentina Clinical Hospital

Colentina Clinical Hospital was founded in 1858 when Prince Scarlat Ghica decided to found the medical endowment called in that period "New Pantelimon" on 8.73 ha of land, donated by Prince Grigore Ghica.

Colentina Hospital is a medical facility with tradition, being one of the first hospitals built in Bucharest. The continuous development of the hospital was determined by important figures of Romanian medicine who, along with patient care, trained new generations of doctors and developed an intense medical research activity. Scientists of international stature such as Prof. dr. Gheorghe Marinescu, Prof. dr. Nicolae Gheorghe Lupu, Acad. Stefan George Nicolau accomplished in Colentina Clinical Hospital studies which characterize their scientific work.

One of the biggest projects of the Colentina Clinical Hospital (and even of Romania) is the COLENTINA- RESEARCH PAVILION DEVELOPMENT (CDPC), which is currently being implemented.

CDPC is a research infrastructure project with a budget of approximately 17 million euro on a period of 2 years funded through Structural Funds – Sectoral Operational Programme, “Increase of Economic Competitiveness”.

The multidisciplinary research centre will develop research in the health sector. From 14 specialties, 4 (alergology, neurology, dermatology and histopathology) will run with facilities unique in the country. The other 11 departments will represent excellence centres in their domains.

This centre will become the place where the basic and applicative research activities in the health domain will be carried out, involving young researchers and specialists. It will also be a provider of high performance medical services and a centre for the training and qualification for young people (students, residents, specialists and PhD students).

The activity of this research centre will contribute to the decrease of the existing gap between the approach of such themes at national level and at European and international level, both with respect to basic research and to the application of results in modern medical practice. Moreover, it will be the starting point for the initiation and development of new and future-oriented fields such as implantology, transplantology or tissue culture.

The Colentina Clinical Hospital also implements national projects, in the framework of Research Programs of the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation (GENCOL; SSBIRECO; REUMALAS; BIOLES; ARTROMAG; IMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS; PATHUNIT; REABILUM; IMADERM) and projects in the framework of the Structural Funds (Sectoral Operational Programme, Increase of Economic Competitiveness: INFOC).

MEDICA GROUP

MEDICA GROUP is based on five Romanian companies with entirely private capital. By studying the needs of the national and the international markets, the founders have put the basis of the group nearly 15 years ago. Since 1992, the research department of MEDICA GROUP is focused on the identification and presentation of the most valuable health resources so generously offered by nature and has built up the PRO-NATURA brand in the pharmaceutical and food supplements sector in Romania.

The field of activity of the MEDICA GROUP is of general interest. They promote alternative treatments at convenient prices, with no side effects and manufactured in accordance with the highest quality standards, thus contributing to an increase of the life span and to the improvement of the health care quality in Romania.

MEDICA GROUP offers a large range of products and services under the PRO-NATURA brand, addressing a large series of diseases. The key of their success is the novelty of the products, patented and prized at many international fairs.

The owner of these inventions is Dr. Ionut Moraru, PhD, President of MEDICA GROUP. As a sign of appreciation for his high performance in scientific research, Dr. Ionut Moraru has received the Cultural Merit Order in range of Cavalier, through Presidential Decree 20/17.01.2008. He also won a lot of prizes and medals for his inventions for example:

For BIO-MER: gold medal at the International Fair for Inventions, at Geneva-2001;
For OPTILUTEIN FORTE: bronze medal at the International Fair for Inventions, at Geneva-2005;
For OSTEOCALCIN: bronze medal at the International Fair for Inventions, at Geneva-2000;
For DIABETIN: bronze medal at the International Fair for Inventions, at Geneva-1999.

Not less important is the highly competent team with a large expertise and openness to novelty and detail. The primary objective of this team is to promote products at reasonable prices, followed by adequate services of high quality.

At the same time, the decision of creating a new product is based on the study of the market needs, both domestic and international, as well as on clinical and pre-clinical studies for the products in the portfolio. Therefore, MEDICA GROUP works in association with famous research institutes in Romania, to make sure that the procedures that are going to be implemented observe the highest standards.

The production lines used within MEDICA GROUP are ecological, because one of their most important concerns is to protect the environment both during the supply process as well as during manufacturing and distribution.

One very specific aspect of MEDICA GROUP is the health services provided, which is unique not only in the National Health Care System of Romania but in other similar systems as well. Therefore, a national franchise system has been designed, tested and implemented and the unconventional medical instruments based on patented and internationally recognized software are prepared for production. Worldwide experience has shown that therapies with natural remedies are very effective, if they are used in the prophylaxis under the form of remedies combinations, due to their synergistic effect.

Following the example of the Colentina Clinical Hospital, MEDICA is currently involved in projects funded by the European Union through Structural Funds, for example:

MEDLIM (2009-2010) - “The creation of an infrastructure for the development of new medicinal remedies through the usage of new conditioning and processing new techniques and also through the exploitation of therapeutic properties of the plants with limited therapeutic usage”;
MEDICA IT (2009) - “The development of an ITC infrastructure with internet broadband access for the increase of economic competitiveness of SC MEDICA FARMIMPEX SRL”.

Also, MEDICA is registered in the SME’s go Health database, having profiles and partners searches including different project ideas.

PROPLANTA (PROcessed PLANT Additives) is a small private S.A. enterprise (SME) registered in 2001, as a Center for Applied Biotechnologies, with research and technological development activities, specific to plants and agrofood products. Proplanta’s production (pilot unit) and laboratories are located in the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (UASVM) Cluj-Napoca, the main partner of Proplanta.

Activities performed by Proplanta:

Elaboration, production and sales of final and intermediate original products (nutraceuticals, natural additives and intermediates for food industry, phytocosmetics with plant extracts). The plants they process are wild or cultivated medicinal plants and cereals, fruits or vegetables which are coming from unpolluted regions of Romania (mainly Transylvania) or which are grown under controlled ecologic conditions (natural resources);

Research and technology development. The profile and activities of PROPLANTA are registered in the EU networks “SMEs for Food” and “SMEs go Health”.

Proplanta developed its own strategy for research and biotechnology development, based on the knowledge of plant and agrofood active compounds, their extraction and purification, in order to obtain innovative nutraceuticals, food ingredients, functional food or phytocosmetics with beneficial actions on health.

Proplanta is included in many national and international partnerships for Research & Technological development projects.

Examples of International partnerships:

COST 926 “Impact of new technologies on the health benefits and safety of bioactive plant products” (2004-2008);
COST 928 ” Control and exploitation of enzymes for added-value products” (2004-2008);
COST 826 „Bioencapsulation multiscale interaction analysis” ( 2007-2009);
ERASMUS Thematic Network "ISEKI – Food - Integrating Safety and Environ. Knowledge Into Food Studies towards EU Sustainable Development”;
BIO_ACTORS – FP 7 ( approved for 2008-2010);

Examples of national projects:

CEEX modul I 10/2005 Partner Proplanta	Synergic bioactivity of functional food rich in antioxidants and the reversibility of metabolic syndrome MET-ANTIOX (2005-2008)
CEEX Modul I 65/2006 Partner Proplanta	Photothermal and complementary methods to study the quality, authenticity, degradation and adulteration of plant oils (2006-2008)
CEEX Modul III 195/2006 Partner Proplanta	Thematic network to promote the European partnership in Bioencapsulation micro technologies (2006-2008)

As you can see above, the private healthcare sector is in an incipient phase, but growing at high-speed. An increasing number of private clinics has been opened and has been well received by those in the middle and upper income segments.

The Romanian private medical services market emerged in the mid 90s, as an alternative to the poor condition of the public health system, the long queues and the artificially created bottlenecks that were addressed through various “gifts” and informal payments. Initially, local entrepreneurs opened small medical practices in order to address the deficiencies of the public ambulatory health system.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for better quality services led to the emersion of the first outpatient clinics. The sector attracted foreign investors with operations in Central and Eastern European markets, Medsana and Medicover being among the first foreign names to enter the market.

Romanian private healthcare industry SWOT analysis:

> Strengths

Sustained growth during the past years and good prospects for future growth;
Rigid demand due to the lack of a viable substitute (poor public health services);
Better managerial capacity as opposed to the public sector, especially for the private medical services providers which are controlled by foreign investors with superior expertise in this field;
The heavy investments performed in the past are now paying off.

> Weaknesses

Incomplete records of private expenditure;
Poor private health insurance legislation;
Low deductibility quotas for cash payments;
Highly fragmented market;
Insufficient medical resources;
Limited to specialties which can generate profit (i.e., specialties such as oncology involving expensive treatments and high expertise cannot be developed in the private sector).

> Opportunities

High interest from both financial and strategic investors to trigger increased FDI through acquisitions of local players or greenfield projects;
Development of private health insurance to trigger investments in private hospitals;
Lower resources allocated from the state budget for the public health services to direct patients towards the private sector;
Poor quality of the public primary care services, inadequate referral and overemphasis on hospital based curative services with lack of good equipment and drugs.

> Threats

Migration of healthcare personnel to EU countries;
Migration of patients to more developed EU countries;
Significant delays in collection of receivables for the contracts with the National Insurance House;
The raise in medical devices prices and consumables puts additional pressure on the medical services companies’ margins;
Instability of the economic environment to lower the access of the population to private medical services.

Romanian and non-Romanian SMEs and academia who would also like to implement European projects can subscribe to the SME’s go Health database, where they will find reliable partners for their research projects and get connected with other organizations from all over the Europe. They can also take advantage of the free help offered by their SGH national contact point. In Romania, this is the FM Management Consultancy SRL. They will also be happy to answer all your questions regarding this article.

New research funding scheme: Joint Programming

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new initiative in research, called “Joint Programming”, is approaching its finalization. A first pilot action in the field of Alzheimer has already been set-up and by the end of the year, the first themes should be identified.

The Joint Programming Initiative (not to be confused with the Joint Technology Initiatives) is not a new instrument from the European Community, but consists of pooling national research efforts.

Currently, 85% of European public research funding is invested in programmes conceived, developed and implemented nationally without any transnational coordination or competition. Only 15% is invested through intergovernmental organisations (such as CERN) or programmes such as EUREKA, or programmed jointly in the Community's Research Framework Programme. This situation leads both to unwanted duplications and to opportunities lost to achieve a critical mass of research efforts.

This is why the 2008 Spring European Summit called on the Commission and Member States to explore the potential of Joint Programming, asking for joint activities to be launched in 2010. The new approach is proposed to more effectively tackle common European challenges in a few key areas.

The Joint Programming should be a structured and strategic process whereby Member States agree, through a voluntary and "à la carte "process, common visions and strategic research agendas to addressing major societal challenges. The aim is to foster a structuring effect so as to increase the efficiency and impact of public research funding.

Joint Programming will build on the experience gained from existing schemes coordinating national programmes e.g. the ERA-NET scheme and the agenda setting practices of European Technology Platforms.

Currently, a High Level Group, consisting of nominees from Member States, is identifying suitable Joint Programming areas. Based on the result of this High Level Group, the Council, upon recommendation by the Commission, will select the few areas in which to launch the first Joint Programming Initiatives.

Not all Member States may wish to participate in all initiatives.

Once the initiatives have been identified, they should start with:

Developing a vision for the area;
Defining a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and SMART [Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant (to the objective of the Joint Programming Initiative) and Time-Bound] objectives; and
Preparing for implementation of the SRA by undertaking an option analysis and impact assessment.

The best mix of instruments to be used in implementing the individual Joint Programming initiatives is for the participating Member States to decide. Ultimately, common strategic activities, such as joint calls for proposals involving multi-national teams of researchers, should be launched.

For further information, please consult http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/specific-era-initiatives_en.html

IMI Partnering Platform is available

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The German National Contact Point Life Sciences has set up a Partnering Platform dedicated to IMI, which provides networking opportunities to prepare for the 2^nd IMI Call 2009.

The Platform will allow potential IMI applicants to identify suitable cooperation partners for the upcoming Call of the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

The IMI Partnering Platform will not only facilitate the quick and targeted search for possible partners, but will also display European-wide cooperation offers specific to IMI. Registered Users have the opportunity to be informed via e-mail alerts about new participants interested in the same (potential) topic(s).

A Matchmaking function has been integrated in the partner search tool to show how well the own profile fits the profiles of potential cooperation partners.

Networking via the Platform is open to all IMI applicants on European level. Currently, the database contains already more than 160 profiles from 26 different countries.

The partnering platform is accessible at the following link: http://www.imi-partnering.eu/

Innovative Medicines Initiative: putting Europe at the forefront of biopharmaceutical innovation

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On 14 September 2009, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), the public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by EFPIA, announced the topics of research of its second call for proposals.

This announcement is to inform the scientific community already in advance about the topics that will be the subject of the IMI JU 2^nd Call. The actual launch of the IMI JU 2nd Call is foreseen for 30 October 2009 with a deadline expected to be in January 2010.

With these topics, IMI aims to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines in the field of cancer and inflammatory and infectious diseases. The funding available for the 2^ndcall will be €156.3 million, with €76.8 million provided by the European Commission and €79.5 million expected to be provided in kind from EFPIA member companies.

Background

Launched in 2007, IMI is a public-private partnership aiming to support more efficient discovery and development of better medicines for patients by removing research bottlenecks in the current drug development process. The total IMI budget for the period 2008-2017 is €2 billion (1 billion from the European Community and 1 billion from the industry). The 1st call for proposals of IMI was launched in April 2008. 134 proposals were submitted, of which 15 have been selected to receive € 246 million.

List of the 9 topics of IMI's 2^nd call for proposals

Imaging biomarkers for anticancer drug development.
New tools for target validation to improve drug efficacy (oncology).
Molecular biomarkers: accelerating cancer therapy development and refining
patient care.
Identification and development of rapid point of care diagnostic tests for bacterial diagnosis to facilitate conduct of clinical trials and clinical practice.
Understanding aberrant adaptive immunity mechanisms.
Translational research in chronic immune-mediated disease: bridging between animal models and humans.
Drug/disease modeling: library & framework.
Open pharmacological space
Electronic Health Records (EHR).

For more information on IMI, see: http://www.imi-europe.org and http://imi.europa.eu

FEED-BACK on SME Week: contributions from Austria, Estonia, the Netherlands and Slovenia

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The first European SME Week, which took place from 6 to 14 May 2009, was a campaign to promote entrepreneurship across Europe and to inform entrepreneurs about support available for them at European, national and local level. It allowed SMEs to discover an array of information, advice, support and ideas to help them develop their activities.

You can find the activities from some of the SMEs go Health partners, demonstrating the success of the SME Week. Do not miss it next time!

In Austria, more than 500 participants attended SME-workshops which were organised in 6 cities, focusing on innovation and financing options. Presentations offered an overview about bottom-up R&D programmes and initiatives for SMEs on European level.
In Estonia, an information day for SMEs about financing opportunities for SMEs in European cooperation programs took place. Joint events with Enterprise Estonia were organised in Tallinn and in Tartu. Information days will be repeated in October 2009 in the framework of the “Week of Entrepreneurship”.
In Slovenia, next to co-organised events, two information days for entrepreneurs and for already active SMEs took place. A repetition of these kinds of events is foreseen in autumn.
In the Netherlands, a meeting was organized by the "Economical Information Service" together with SenterNovem and the "Dutch Patent Office", to present possibilities for SMEs in international research and innovation (KP7, CIP, Eureka/Eurostars, Cornet, ERA-SME and structural funds). The European Commission (DG Enterprise) was present at this meeting.

FP7 HEALTH-2010 calls are published

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The FP7 HEALTH-2010 calls have been published .

Six Calls for Proposals have been published under the Health theme: Health-2010 has a total indicative budget of EUR 620.5 million The objective of health research under FP7 is to improve the health of European citizens and boost the competitiveness of health-related industries and businesses, as well as address global health issues.

For the 2010 WP there are several calls often with different deadlines and different procedures (Single stage, Two-stage,..). The announcement of the new call has been placed on CORDIS, you will find the link for all relevant information at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health/home_en.html

The Health theme is a major theme of the Cooperation programme and the EU has earmarked a total of € 6.1 billion for funding this theme over the duration of FP7.

A few additional info:

There will be an info day on the coordinated call AFRICA; on 18 September 2009. Please find the programme and registration link on CORDIS at http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/rtd/rtdafr2010call/library?l=/africa-programmepdf/_EN_1.0_&a=d

The Call on "Alternative Testing Strategies" addresses the replacement of animal tests in repeated dose systemic toxicity testing, through the topic HEALTH.2010.4.2-9 "Towards the replacement of repeated dose systemic toxicity testing in human safety assessment", of the Health Programme. The European Cosmetic Industry has decided to match the research funds by the European Commission. More information about additional funding possibilities may be obtained from the COLIPA's website www.colipa.eu . It is important to note that the funding modalities differ from the standard FP7 funding schemes.

An Information Event will take at the Rome Cavalieri Hotel, on the 31^st of August 2009 and 1^st of September 2009, in connection with to the VII World Congress on Alternatives & Animal Use in the Life Sciences. The provisional agenda of this event, which is jointly organised by the European Commission and COLIPA, is available at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health/events_en.html

Registration is not required as there are no fees to pay for the info event itself but space is limited to 200 people; in case you intend to participae in the whole World Congress on Alternatives, you need to register and pay the fees.

Health research excellence in the spotlight: Spain as a Country of Bioregions

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Spanish biotechnology market is mainly divided into three components: development, manufacturing and marketing of products based on advanced biotechnological research. During the last four years, the biotechnology industry in Spain has experienced an astonishing 350% growth. In 2007 the sector employed more than 88,000 people. It involved nearly 700 enterprises and represented a turnover of around 22,500 million €.

The Spanish Association of Biotechnology (ASEBIO) reveals that between 2006 and 2007, the internal R&D investment grew by over 45 percent. 64 new products were researched, developed and launched to market by Spanish companies in that period.

According to Genoma España, the biotechnology sector in Spain is growing 17 percent faster than the average of the EU-15 countries and 10 percent faster than in the United States. The average annual growth in public funding for biotech R&D reaches 34 percent, while the one for private funding reaches 30 percent. Spain has doubled its biotech knowledge contribution to the international community and accounts for 2,5 percent of innovative biotech research in the world.

The most developed biotech area in Spain –and arguably the one with the most potential– is biomedicine. In addition, 35% of public funded research is carried out in the bio-medical area, taking advantage of the country's excellent medical-research infrastructure.

Infrastructure: The development of biotechnology requires an adequate interrelation between biotechnology companies, hospitals, research centers, universities, pharmaceu¬tical industries, manufacturers of medical equipment, financing agents and governmental authorities.

The number of public bodies that carry out R&D activities totals 273 centers, out of which 93 are universities. Spain also holds a network of huge public university hospitals whose managers perform research work in universities and centers of excellence.

The entire country has seen an exponential growth of scientific parks, specialized facilities for research activities, spaces and equipment for technology and innovation work.

Bio-clusters: Public administration, private firms and organizations such as scientific parks are cooperating in the establishment of bio-clusters in different regions in Spain. They boost the cooperation with researchers involved in basic and clinical investigations that operate in biomedical and biotechnological sectors. Furthermore, they are achieving a more efficient technology transfer and strengthening the introduction of new technologies to the local and international markets.

Some of the most representative academic and research centers that work in biotechnology and the biomedical fields are the following: CSIC, Spanish National Research Council, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Clinic Hospital of Barcelona.

One example of the collaboration between universities and large investors is the University of Navarra, which raised $188 million to be used within the next ten years for its Center for Applied Medicine Research (CIMA) in Pamplona.
The network of university hospitals in Spain has a wide range of research activities in the pharmaceutical, medical, biomedical engineering and nanotechnology. They are mainly focused on the development of instruments, materials, diagnostics and therapeutic devices, etc. These Bio-clusters stimulate research, transfer of knowledge and the growth of the entrepreneurial class.

Human Resources: Spain has a long tradition of scientific excellence, particularly in Life Sciences. Between 2000 and 2006, the growth of direct employment reached 750%. More than 9,000 researchers in universities, public research centers and hospitals make up 75% of the Spanish biotechnology researchers. Presumably some 100,000 jobs will be created by the end of 2010.

Spanish Universities award PhD degrees to 2,000 biotechnology graduates each year. The Carlos III National Institute of Health has an initiative (BIOIEX) to facilitate the return to Spain of biomedical Spanish post PhDs after their training abroad. Other national programs such as Torres Quevedo o Ramón y Cajal promote the incorporation of PhDs in companies and R&D centers, respectively. In addition, the creation of high-biotech research centers in Spain is attracting top scientific talent.

According to Genoma España, from 2000 to 2006, Spain ranked fourth in Europe in terms of biotechnology-related articles published in scientific journals, and sixth on the industry-wide impact of these publications. Approximately half of these published materials cover basic research in biotechnology, while the other half are geared towards more specific areas, particularly human and veterinary medicine as well as the agricultural sector.
The importance of research conducted in Spain can be seen at the US Patent and Trademark Office. A study on the works referenced in a sample of patent applications by North American researchers and companies has shown that 40% of them cite Spanish researchers as contributing authors.

Biotech and Pharma Companies - Success stories:

According to IHS Global Insight Perspective, there are 288 biotech companies. Some 41 have been registered by the ASEBIO 2007 study, with 196 products in the areas of human health/medicines, diagnostic devices/sanitary products and animal health. PharmaMar (Zeltia) remains the leading company within the sector.

Regarding the human health/medicines sector, the leading company is PharmaMar (Zeltia), with 16 different products. Yondelis, the top product of the firm, was the first marine anti-tumor drug in the world.

PharmaMar is followed by Navarra Digna Biotech, with 16 different medications covering nine therapeutic areas. These include dermatology, cardiovascular diseases, hepatology, ophthalmology, oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ischemia/reperfusion. Eleven of these medications are still in preclinical phases, while four drugs are in clinical research Phase II.

In the third place comes Oryzon with 13 preclinical projects within oncology and neurosciences. This is followed by Palau Pharma with eight medications, of which Iberhospitex Triflusal-stent (coronary stent treatment/cardiovascular) is ready to be marketed.

Other companies are Chimera with eight drugs, Pharmakine, Biotherapix and Advancell with six drugs, and Neuron Biopharma, Vivia Biotech and Cellerix, which has two digestive medications at clinical trial Phase III, with five drugs.

Oncology is the leading therapeutic area within the sector of human health/medicines and the sector of diagnostic devices/sanitary products. The market share is 43 percent and 18 percent respectively.

International Companies work with Spanish research institutions. Particularly in the biomedicine sector, international big pharma companies, such as MSD, Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis or Roche, and biotech companies, like Merck Serono, have made important investments in R&D in Spain. Part of their strategy is based on the collaboration with SMEs, which are the primary agents in the translation of key results from the research centers to the productive sector.

Spin-offs: The number of start-ups in biotechnology in Spain has increased sustainably in these last years, growing more than any other country due to the creation of Technological Parks. Some examples of spin-offs are: AMP BIOTECH, a spin-off from the University of Girona, Oryzon Genomics, a spin off from the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Barcelona, and Sylentis, a spin-off within Zeltia Group.

Government Support: According to Cristina Garmendia, Minister of Science and Innovation, the determined decision of the Spanish Government to support R&D&I, reinforced by some regional Governments, is giving rise to a growing biotechnology sector in the country, along with encouraging examples of consolidation and good perspectives on the mid and long term.

The growing importance of the biotech industry in Spain can be partially explained by the government's role in promoting this sector. This has mainly resulted in increasing investments for research and development (R&D) activities and the production of innovative drugs.

Expectations for further governmental investments remain high in Spain. While growing competition is expected within the sector, oncology treatments as well as diabetes drug developments with a particular emphasis on stem-cell research are expected to remain a strong priority for the government.

One of these governmental initiatives is the Ingenio 2010 Programme, trying to meet the Research, Development and Innovation convergence objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. Another initiative is the National R&D Plan 2008-2011, where health, biotechnology and nano-science are considered a priority.

Other regional initiatives are the establishment of Scientific Parks, where companies share facilities, equipment and knowledge. Two of the most prestigious in biomedicine are the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and the Madrid Scientific Park.

To summarize, Spain offers a privileged environment for the development of R&D&I activities, thanks to the concentra¬tion of the main agents. The R&D&i public environment, constituted by universities, public research institu¬tions and hospitals, is a clear opportunity for the development of this industry sector, since it provides qualified personnel and competitive costs, as well as the state’s support to collaborate with the industry.

The financial sector together with the European institutions has been providing capital to finance the different stages of consolidation of the compa¬nies. These good perspectives are attracting interna¬tional talent, both at the scientific and the specialized management levels.

A high level of investment in research and development, as well as in education, has provided Spain with a solid infrastructure, fully integrated in the field of European research.

For more information on the Spanish Biotechnology sector, contact the Spanish SGH partner:

RED DE FUNDACIONES UNIVERSIDAD EMPRESA (REDFUE)
Capitan Haya 23, esc. 1, 8.3, E-28020, Madrid, Spain.
Mrs Tona Rubio, gestionproyectos@redfue.es

Main Resources: Association of Biotechnological Companies in Spain (ASEBIO), Genoma Spain, Institute of Foreign Commerce (ICEX), Interes, PromoMadrid, BioMadrid, BioCat, Technology Review (MIT), John Hopkins University, IHS Global Insight Perspective.
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How SMEs go Health can support you for the next FP7 Health call?

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The fourth call for the 7th Framework Programme, theme Health, is soon to be expected. The European Commission plans to launch this call on July 30, 2009. This year different calls can be distinguished: a call with topics to be submitted in a single step (FP7-HEALTH-2010-single-stage), topics with a two-stage submission procedure (FP7-HEALTH-2010-two-stage), a coordinated call of the themes Health, Food and Environment to address objectives from the ‘Africa-EU Strategic Partnership’ (FP7-AFRICA-2010), a coordinated call of the themes Health and Food for proposals aimed at research on human and animal influenza (FP7-INFLUENZA-2010) and finally a call by a joint research initiative between the European Commission and the European Cosmetics Association (COLIPA; FP7-HEALTH-2010-Joint-Research-Initiative-Commission-COLIPA).

If you would like to submit a project proposal for one of these calls, the partners of the SMEs go Health network can provide you with individual expert support during the different stages of proposal preparation.

For more details on the different calls mentioned above please contact the SMEs go Health partner in your country.

Our experts can help you to identify the call topic that best matches your project idea. In addition, many experts organize national information days, workshops and trainings on the occasion of the fourth FP7 Health call.

A good project proposal starts with having the right partners. If you would like to search for consortium partners beyond your own network, SMEs go Health offers a powerful web-based partnersearch tool. This tool can be used to identify organizations that supplement your consortium or to offer your own expertise to join a consortium.

When you start writing the project proposal there are many details to take into account. SMEs go Health has published a First Aid Package that guides you through the critical issues related to proposal preparation and project participation in the 7th Framework Programme.

If any questions remain, please feel free to contact your national SMEs go Health expert. Any of the 30 SMEs go Health partners will be happy to provide you with additional information or advice.
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European Research Council Funding Schemes

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The European Research Council (ERC) Grants aim to support researchers leading a research team to conduct frontier research projects. There are two funding schemes available: the ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant and the ERC Advanced Investigators Grant. The sole criterion for both schemes is scientific excellence.

The ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants support the creation of excellent new research teams and the strengthening of others that have been recently created. The scheme targets promising up-and-coming research leaders, irrespective of their nationality, who are about to establish or consolidate a proper research team and to start conducting independent research in Europe. A competitive applicant should be able to demonstrate a promising track-record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage (between three and eight years after acquiring their PhD), including significant publications (as main author) in major international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journals. The budget per project can be up to € 2M for duration of up to 5 years. As a result of the first Call for Proposals in 2007, 201 projects received funding. The next ERC Starting Grant Call for Proposals will be announced in summer 2009 with a deadline for submission in autumn 2009.

The ERC Advanced Investigators Grants allow exceptional and established research leaders to pursue frontier research of their choice, irrespective of the field. The scheme targets leading scientists, in Europe and beyond irrespective of their nationality, who wish to establish themselves in Europe to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk research. Competitive applicants are expected to be active researchers who have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years. The budget per project can be up to € 3.5 M for duration of up to 5 years. As a result of the first Call for Proposals in 2008, 275 projects received funding. The next ERC Advanced Grant Call for Proposals will be announced in autumn 2009 with a deadline for submission in spring 2010.

Further information regarding the IDEAS Work Programme, the relevant Calls for Proposals and Guides for Applicants can be found at http://erc.europa.eu
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Use the SMEs go Health matching facilities online

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

You can easily register with an expertise profile in the "SMEs go Health" database.

This database (operating since 2004) supports SMEs and researchers in identifying suitable partners for joint research projects - now in view of the upcoming 4th Call for "HEALTH" in the 7th EU Framework Programme.

It currently contains more than 1500 validated profiles.

Why update your profile now? This way you ensure that you can be identified by interesting cooperation partners and project coordinators, based on your updated expertise profile.

Are you interested in European Funding and European cooperation in the in the area of Health research/Life Sciences? In this case, we kindly ask you to:

enter your profile in the SMEs go Health database or check whether your existing profile is correct and up-to-date
tick up to 5 relevant topics of the current HEALTH Work Programme

You can access your profile at:
http://www.smesgohealth.org/common/ContactsLogin.asp

For more information on the Call Topics, please contact your National Contact Point or your SMEs go Health expert in your Country (list available at http://www.smesgohealth.org/common/partners.asp)

We are at your disposal for any questions regarding the SMEs go Health Database or the Health Call!
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Become an Evaluator for FP7!

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you are a scientist working in Health industry (large or small company), you can enrol yourself as an expert evaluator for Research Activities of FP7

FP7 proposals are selected through a peer review system, where top experts in the fields of the proposals being evaluated are involved in a fair and transparent assessment of the submitted proposals that follows the EC rules for evaluation, selection and award procedures.

Being an expert evaluator for Research Activities of FP7 is a useful experience to understand the EC evaluation system and it is generally considered very valuable. Compensation is foreseen both for time and expenses.

In the selection of experts for evaluation, the Commission services have to follow strict rules to avoid conflicts of interest.

In addition the panel of experts invited to evaluate the proposals should represent a fair cross-section of the research communities, respect gender balance and assure pertinent and complementary competences (at the moment, industrial expertise needs to be reinforced).

In addition, the number and profile of invited experts will depend on the number and the content of the received proposals. Therefore there is no certitude to be invited.

To apply, check the web-site: https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/

As the database is very broad, to avoid missing an opportunity, you are advised to also signal your registration by e-mail to Ludovica Serafini, the officer responsible for SMEs & Innovation in RTD Health Directorate (Ludovica.Serafini (at) ec.europa.eu), mentioning your expert number, providing a short version of your CV.
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3rd Health call results - outcome of the evaluation of call FP7-HEALTH-2009-single-stage

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The 3rd call for proposals FP7-HEALTH-2009-single-stage was closed on 3rd of December 2008. There were 64 topics distributed within 10 indicative budget lines. The overall budget foreseen for this call was €476m. In the single-stage call applicants were expected to submit a full proposal. In total 513 proposals were evaluated.

The evaluation was carried out by the remote method followed by consensus and panel meetings held in Brussels. Three independent observers were present throughout the evaluation meetings and their report will be published on CORDIS.

95 proposals are on the main (“funding”) list with another 20 kept in reserve. The overall success rate is 18.5 % ranging from 11% to 35% depending of the activity area.

Only 2 proposals on the main list had a total score of less than 12 points, but none of the “funded” proposals had less than a 4.0 mark for the S&T criterion (“Science and Technology”).

The proposed budget (€ 493.4m) is higher than the indicative budget by €17.37m and will be used for high marked proposals.

All the applicants were informed by the DG research of the evaluation of their proposals and the successful coordinators were invited to an information meeting held on 4^th May 2009.
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Success Story from Italy

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With the next Health call coming up, it is always interesting to see how project participants in the past have coped with the various challenges from the Seventh EU Framework Programme. You can consult several success stories online, in which coordinators and partners provide you with their experiences and lessons learned.

One of the selected projects is HYPERGENES. This is a Collaborative Project funded in the first HEALTH call of FP7. The aim of HYPERGENES’ integrated approach is to develop an exhaustive model to disentangle the genetic bases of a complex disease (hypertension) using population genetic epidemiology as a methodological tool. In the success story, you can read the experiences from the Italian coordinator, Prof. Daniele Cusi from the University of Milano.

If you would like to give your comments on your experience in participating in FP7-projects or if you want to give a testimony yourself, do not hesitate to contact one of the project partners.

Eurostars 3rd call for proposals is open - Deadline: 24 September 2009

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Eurostars is a joint initiative between the EU and currently 31 participating countries, managed by the intergovernmental initiative EUREKA. The EU supports the initiative with EUR 100 million from the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), while an additional EUR 300 million comes from participating countries.

The initiative was launched in autumn 2007 and follows a bottom-up approach in all industrial sectors. It has already run 2 calls, attracting 532 proposals involving a total of 1765 participants. The majority of projects covered three main areas: information and communications technologies; biomedical and healthcare; and industrial manufacturing materials.

Eurostars aims to encourage SMEs that invest more than 10% of their annual turnover in RTD (“R&D performing SME”) to lead international collaborative research and innovation projects by easing access to support and funding.

A Eurostars project must involve at least two participants from two different Eurostars member countries and the main participant must be a R&D performing SME (see definition above). The project should be market-driven: it must have a maximum duration of three years, and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launch onto the market. The exception to this rule applies to biotechnology, biomedical or medical projects, where clinical trials must be started within two years after project completion.

The third call for proposals is already open with a deadline on September the 24th, 2009.

More information: www.eurostars-eureka.eu

Contact: EUREKA national project co-ordinators: http://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/where.do

2 Stage Process for FP7 Topics

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the 3rd Health call, a new approach has been used to choosing projects to be funded for certain topics. The normal success rate for bids is 20%, which leads to much wasted effort for large projects; and so the Commission has devised the 2-stage process to short-list only a few projects and to ask them to bid in detail, with a chance of success that is better than 40%.

The process of selection has been completed in June 2009.

26 of the original 145 applications, across 7 topics, were invited in April to submit full bids.
11 bids are expected to be funded.
75 applications were received for systems biology, and about 10 for each of the others.

The evaluation process is very rapid for those that make the second stage. While many unsuccessful consortia were disappointed not to make the second stage, they were saved a vast amount of unnecessary work. The only documentation they had to submit came from the challenge to write their concept in 5 pages, and describe the consortium on 1 page.

UNIT F-HEALTH sees the process as positive and is going to repeat it in the soon coming 4th call. It has enabled them to address wide-ranging topics, some very new and hard to specify in calls. The expert reviewers look at all the bids, and distil areas for research that are well thought out, and that are right for 2010. In the past, Framework programmes have been criticised because they focus on research areas that are a little out-of date – research moves so quickly. Wide ranging topics such as chronic disease could also benefit from this approach to calls. Finally, with fewer bids in stage 2, there are more experts to choose from to carry out the reviews, even in very specialist fields.
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The Health Brokerage Event 2009, Prague, 4th June 2009

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A Brokerage Event was jointly organised by SMEs go Health and the Health-NCP-Net in Prague on 4^th June 2009 with the aim bringing companies and research institutes from European countries together in one place.

In pre-arranged bilateral meetings, participants had the opportunity to discuss possibilities of future cooperations.

The basis for the meeting schedule was an online catalogue, where each participating organisation submits in advance its competence profile and its cooperation interest. The target of these meetings was to initiate cooperation in European research projects in the Health area of FP7.

Around 120 delegates from 25 different countries attended the event with about 87 different participants being involved in up to 150 bilateral meetings.

Download the presentations of THE Health Brokerage Event 2009 http://www.smesgohealth.org/media/documents/Prague_090604/SMEs_Prague_June_2009.pdf

European Commission publishes progress report on FP7; progress is acknowledged but there is need for more SME participation

Sun, 03 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The European Commission has published the Communication on the progress made under the Seventh European Framework Programme for R&D (FP7). The report underlines in particular remaining challenges for the FP7 such as the mobilisation of new Member States, the rather low participation of SMEs and administrative simplification. Report here.

Presentations of the SMEs go Health International Information and Training Workshop in Istanbul now available online

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs go Health held its 4^th Information and Training Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey, on 27 April 2009. This training day was addressed to companies, Research Institutes, Universities, Hospitals and other fields of Health, Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology.

The event took place at the occasion of the12^th World Public Health Congress

The presentations offered a broad overview on the 7th Framework Programme and the Health theme as they contained information on successful proposal preparation, evaluation procedures, success stories and specific knowledge of upcoming initiatives in the area of Health to name but a few.

87 participants from 22 countries attended the meeting.

SMEs were also given the possibility to present their project objectives and they could find researchers with whom they examined possibilities for consortium building with a view to preparing an application to the FP7 fourth call in the Health theme.

The presentations can be downloaded by clicking the links below (note that some files are large and may take some time to download):

01 - Welcome by SMEs go Health
(Ines Haberl, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Austria;
Melike Sevimli, Scientific and Technological Research Council, Turkey)
02 - The 7th EU-Framework Programme with the focus on "Health"
(Beatrice Lucaroni, Genomics and Systems Biology Unit, Health Directorate, DG Research – European Commission)
03 - SMEs go Health: A support action to participate in FP7 Health projects
(Argo Soon, Archimedes Foundation, Estonia)
04 - Success Story: Benefits and challenges of participating in an EU-funded project – an experience report from a Coordinator
(Gérard Brugal, University Joseph Fourier, France)
05 - Life cycle of an EU-funded project: From the idea to a successful project
(Martijn de Jager, SenterNovem, The Netherlands)
06 - Experiences of an FP7 project Evaluator: Critical points of a project - Dos and Don’ts in a proposal
(Mustafa Culha, Yeditepe University, Turkey)
07 - Successful conceptual design of an EU-Project: Tips for planning your next proposal including an exercise
(Crispin Kirkman, Emerging Technologies Network Agency, UK)

Dr. Ruxandra Draghia-Akly appointed as new Director for Health at DG Research

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Ruxandra Draghia-Akly is appointed as new Director for Health at DG research

Dr. Ruxandra Draghia-Akly is a remarkable Rumanian scientist, expert in DNA delivery for therapeutic and vaccination applications.
Dr Draghia-Akly who studied in France and USA, was a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas,

SM-BIO-POWER

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SM-BIO-POWER empowers SMEs in biomedical engineering to participate in EU research. The consortium of ten partners helps SMEs to get their voice heard at the European Commission and gain international visibility for their company. SM-BIO-POWER also provides information on the latest trends in EU support for biomedical engineering research together with best practice examples from other SMEs in EU projects. An online helpdesk is available for registered users as is personal assistance in identifying funding opportunities and project partners. Personalised updates include selected information such as call alerts, partner searches and consortia and project opportunities. All SM-BIO-POWER services and information are offered for free.

Many SMEs find it difficult to exploit FP7 research and development programme opportunities, even though they may be aware that they exist. The relatively long cycles of EU research are not easily matched with the short term practical goals of many SMEs. This mismatch is often evident in SMEs being unable to properly prepare for participation in medium to long-term research programmes, despite a desire on both sides to do so.

The situation has been even less favorable for SMEs in the biomedical engineering and medical technology areas (BME/MT). To date, these specific areas have not received significant funding from European framework programmes and therefore SMEs have struggled to join. While the project does not claim to be able to directly influence the priorities of the seventh framework, the partners certainly intend to serve as the voice of biomedical engineering SMEs. By representing a large group of BME/MT SMEs and raising more awareness of the needs and importance of this domain at a decision-makers level, perhaps SM-BIO-POWER can make a difference to future Calls for Proposals and funding opportunities available to BME/MT SMEs.

The aim of SM-BIO-POWER is to treat SMEs differently and more carefully in order to achieve greater participation in FP7 activities. SM-BIO-POWER will help SMEs know and decide about when they should participate in an FP7 proposal and offer specific guidance in tackling EU Project “jargon”.

In order to achieve greater participation, SM-BIO-POWER envisages massive mobilization of biomedical engineering SMEs with dedicated information workshops. These workshops will be targeted on specific topics with the final objective to build interest groups around SMEs specific needs and interests. The conceptualization of biomedical engineering includes the following main fields (further sub-classifications available online):

o Nanomedicine, cellular and gene engineering
o Biomaterials, tissue engineering
o Sensors, acutators, electrodes
o Advanced biomedical instrumentation
o Multimodal biosignal acquisition and processing
o Imaging and image processing
o Diagnostics and laboratory testing
o Surgery and therapy technologies
o Home care and telemedicine
o Biomechanics, orthopedics
o Clinical decision support systems
o Safety assurance

You are invited to join this growing community, free-of-charge. Registration is open at www.smbiopower.eu.

ERASMUS for SMEs has been launched

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ERASMUS for Young Entrepreneurs is a pilot project financed by the European Commission and like the Erasmus Programme for university students it is also based on the idea of cultural exchange. The general objective of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is to facilitate exchanges of experience, learning and networking for new EU entrepreneurs by means of working with an experienced entrepreneur for up to 6 months in another EU country. The new entrepreneur will gain relevant know-how and skills for managing a small or medium-sized enterprise and learn about European commercial law and the single European market, European standardisation and European support for SMEs. At the same time, by living and working abroad, they will become more international and competitive in a globalised market.

Small and medium-sized enterprises represent 99% of all companies in the EU, provide around three-quarters of all private sector jobs and are generally seen as the backbone of the European economy. The fostering of entrepreneurship, competitiveness and internationalisation, which is the main purpose of this programme, belongs therefore to the EU’s priorities.

The programme is open to new entrepreneurs and host entrepreneurs:

• New entrepreneurs (NEs) are defined as entrepreneurs in the early stages. This includes both nascent (i.e. “would-be”) entrepreneurs, who are firmly planning to start their own business based on a viable business plan, and entrepreneurs who have recently started their own business (i.e. been in operation for not more than three years).

• Host entrepreneurs (HEs) are successful and experienced entrepreneurs (ideally owners of a micro or small enterprise) or persons directly involved in entrepreneurship at SME board level who want to share their entrepreneurial experience and to benefit from the concrete contribution which a new entrepreneur from another country will make to their business.

The matching of the new entrepreneurs with the host entrepreneurs is carried out with the help of more than 100 local, regional and national intermediary organisations (IOs). NEs must submit their applications and HEs their offers via an on-line registration tool. The list of IOs as well as further information and the access to the registration tool are available at www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu and can be obtained from the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Support Office.

The NE’s will receive financial support from their IO. The amount is based on an agreement between the NE and the IO, but the following table contains the recommended assistance per country of stay.

Recommended monthly financial assistance paid by IOs to NEs

Country of stay	Recommended amount per month while staying in the respective country
Belgium	€ 830
Bulgaria	€ 560
Czech Republic	€ 610
Denmark	€ 1100
Germany	€ 830
Estonia	€ 670
Ireland	€ 1000
Greece	€ 780
Spain	€ 830
France	€ 900
Italy	€ 900
Cyprus	€ 780
Latvia	€ 610
Lithuania	€ 560
Luxemburg	€ 830
Hungary	€ 670
Malta	€ 720
Netherlands	€ 830
Austria	€ 900
Poland	€ 610
Portugal	€ 780
Romania	€ 560
Slovenia	€ 720
Finland	€ 950
Sweden	€ 950
United Kingdom	€ 1000

For more information, see: http://www.erasmus-entrepr eneurs.eu

Fourth call for FP7 Health theme expected to be published in July 2009

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The fourth call for the FP7 Health theme is expected to be issued by the end of July 2009 or possibly later. Actually, the calls for the majority of the Cooperation themes will be published on the same day, as it was done last year.

Two calls for the Health theme will be published:
- single-stage for most of the topics of the Work Programme
- two-stage for certain topics only (topics with a broader focus, e.g. systems biology, human development and ageing, translating the results of clinical research outcome into clinical practice).

As announced there will be several topics open in the area of cancer research (closed in the third call).

The deadline for proposals submission should be around November/December 2009 (single-stage and first part of two-stage).

Further information about the work programme, the research topics and the rules for applicants can be found on the CORDIS link below.
In due time, more information on the 4th Call will be published on this website as well:
http://http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html

Some advices on how to write a stage 1 proposal in FP7

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This article reminds what important elements of one are or two-stage submission procedures and what are the crucial evaluation criteria to take into account in your proposal.

The first thing that must be clarified is the difference between a one stage proposal and a two stage proposal.

For a single stage submission we have just one e-submission with a full project proposal that will be evaluated against all established criteria.

For a two stage proposal the submission of the proposal has the following path:

1) The proposal is developed partially and submitted for evaluation
2) If the proposal passed the thresholds for the established criteria, the full project description is submitted for another evaluation that will determine the final status of the proposal.

Even if in the first stage the proposal will be evaluated against only two major criteria, these should not be treated superficially.

The criteria are:

a) Scientific and/or technological excellence (relevant to the topics addressed by the cal) (Threshold 3/5)

What is important?

the proposal idea must fit the objectives/topic of the financing source/theme/call, being also in scope with the work programme;
the idea must be innovative at European level and not only at national level. Check the Cordis database for similar projects in the field;
clearly identify the added value of the project;
use the right financial instruments in accordance with the needs (research projects, demonstrative actions, training, networks of excellence, etc);
describe the current state of the art and explain in detail the proposed objectives;
give specific details on the technology proposed and on the methodology for reaching the objectives;
the idea of a proposal has to start from the applicant’s necessities (infrastructure development, training, equipment acquisition, promotion, human resources development, increasing competitiveness, new products and/or processes, etc) and not from the applicant’s “money hunger”. Many organizations write proposals in accordance with the specific eligibility rules (activities, costs) of the guide for applicants rather than with real necessities for development;
with an R&D proposal, the applicant should seek financial support for cooperation projects (supporting medium to long term development) rather than company funding.

b) Potential impact through the development, dissemination and use of project results (Threshold 3/5)

What is important?

describe the impact starting from European level towards the national one and directed to the EU citizen benefit;
give numbers related to this impact;
describe a direct and tangible impact on the SME’s in the field;
dissemination activities are mandatory. Every financier wants to be promoted, so any project should ideally include in its activities: a website, press articles, scientific articles, leaflets and a closure event;
use of the project results (exploitation of results): when this has been previously discussed and agreed with the partners, it is advisable to explain the way the IPR will be split and what further activities for exploiting the project results are foreseen;
do not use the word marketing, the EC evaluators are reluctant to this word as it is connected with profit.

The rest of the information required should not be very detailed. However, the list of partners and a budget table are mandatory.

FORCE - web-based Form C Editor is mandatory for FP7 projects!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the context of the FP6/FP7 project reporting, a financial statement for each period of reporting has to be submitted through a 'Form C' (annex VI to the FP7 grant agreement). Until now, the Forms C were submitted through an excel sheet.

A new web based application called FORCE has been introduced, allowing coordinators to access, complete and submit forms C (in a later version individual beneficiaries will be able to view, edit and print their own Form C).

For FP6 projects, it is still possible to submit Forms C through an excel sheet, but it is highly recommended to use FORCE also for FP6. For FP7 projects, it is mandatory to use the web based application FORCE to submit a 'Form C'. FORCE is now accessible via the web based application called 'SESAM', at the following address: http://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sesam.

To access FORCE, coordinators have to create an account in SESAM and indicate the link to their project. FORCE is available for all FP7 projects managed by the Directorates-General Research (RTD) and Enterprise and Industry (ENTR). In Directorate-General Energy and Transport (TREN), FORCE should be also available in a near future.

The way of accessing the Forms C for the projects managed by the Directorate-General Information Society (INFSO) is slightly different because of internal operational reasons. However the Forms C are the same. The way of working in DG INFSO is explained in the slides available under the following hyperlink:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/services/coord_day/pdf/3-payments.pdf

For any technical question on the use of FORCE, please send your request to the IT Helpdesk at the following E-mail address: EC-FP7-IT-HELPDESK@ec.europa.eu .

Success Story from Germany

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs might often feel discouraged to participate in FP7-projects, because they apprehend the complexity of European projects and the associated administrative burden. The SMEs go Health project has recently published 5 success stories demonstrating that it is not only feasible, but potentially very beneficial for SMEs to participate in FP7-projects.

The ESNATS project is one of these success stories. ESNATS is a Collaborative Project funded in the first HEALTH call. It aims at developing a novel toxicity test platform based on embryonic stem cells (ESC), especially human ESC (hESC), to accelerate drug development, reduce R&D costs and propose a powerful alternative to animal tests (3 Rs).

The project is coordinated by the German “Klinikum der Universität zu Köln” and includes several SMEs. The German company ProteoSys AG is one of them. This systems biology company was founded in March 2000 in Mainz and Tübingen between scientists from the cell biology and proteomics fields and from the engineering and physical sciences, financed by private and institutional investors.

Mr Bucher from Proteosys stresses in his interview that, even though a good administration is essential and requires some precious time, science remains the most important aspect of the project. Especially since the project also foresees a good administrative support and other support structures can be used by the partners, e.g. the National Contact Points. In conclusion, when duly prepared, the administration should not pose a problem.

In each forthcoming newsletter we will highlight another success story, but you can already consult all of them on our website.

If you would like to give your comments on your experience in participating in FP7-projects or if you want to give a testimony yourself, do not hesitate to contact one of the project partners.

Health research excellence in the spotlight: Estonia

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In our newsletters, we present key research and innovation actors in the “Health” area of European Member States, Associated Countries and Candidate Countries. In this newsletter, we are introducing several Estonian researchers and SMEs willing to participate in FP7 research projects. We invite you to learn more about the expertise of potential new partners for your FP7 projects!

The Estonian Biocentre

Following the initiative of Dr. Richard Villems, the majority of the gene and genome researchers at the University of Tartu have been gathered under the umbrella of the Estonian Biocentre (EBC) in 1986. The EBC is focused on research in molecular medicine is linked to biotechnology. The main research groups can be described as follows:

The main research topic of the molecular evolution workgroup is a worldwide study of the variability of human mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA. Methods involve DNA sequencing, RFLP and STR analysis and, less frequently, cloning and other approaches. This work is in its essence multidisciplinary, meaning intensive contacts with archaeologists and historians in general and with linguists and other specialists of different fields. The workgroup is lead by Dr. Ene Metspalu.
The research projects of the oncogene workgroup are concentrated on the study of the replication mechanisms of pathogenic viruses like papillomaviruses and positive strand RNA viruses. Dr. Ene Ustav and Dr. Andres Merits with their co-workers have put emphasis on the study of the mechanisms of amplificational and stable episomal replication and segregation/ partitioning mechanisms of the papilloma-viruses and construction of the episomal gene therapy and gene vaccination vectors based on the papilloma-virus replicons.
The Gene Technology Workgroup is working on isolating and characterizing human disease genes. To understand better and to demonstrate the utility of the SNP markers and the extent of the linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the human genome, SNP mapping will be performed with 1.500 SNP markers in chromosome 22. The work also comprises the further development and the application of existing DNA methods including DNA chip technologies for genetic analysis and molecular diagnostics. This will include both developing new tests (prenatal screening for Down syndrome or other genetic diseases using maternal blood, single cell PCR based methods for preimplementation diagnostics) and basic studies on oligo DNA chip development including chip chemistry, and gene expression arrays. Dr. Ants Kurg and Dr. Maris Laan act as principal researchers in this workgroup.

The EBC has been actively involved in several projects of the EU Framework Programme. They have been coordinating projects since FP5: GENEMILL (FP5), GENERA (FP6) and ECOGENE (FP7). The research groups of EBS are also experienced partners of many FP projects. The recently acquired patent "Method and apparatus for detection and analysis of biological materials through laser induced fluorescence" from the USA Patent Agency is the result of the EU FP6 grant MOLTOOLS.
More information is provided on the web-page of EBC: www.ebc.ee

For the implementation of research results, the baton is passed on to enterprises. These are often born as spin-off companies of the size of an SME. Many of them continue later independently and successfully. The Quattromed group is such an example.

Quattromed Ltd

Today, Quattromed Ltd has become a successful SME where production and services go hand in hand with research and where results of research are implemented without delay. Quattromed has proficiency in several domains:

Quattromed Cell Factory has developed a stable plasmid system for mammalian cells. The plasmids can replicate in different cell lines, making genetic alterations much quicker and easier when compared to stable cell line generation. They have implemented this technology in protein production and in generation of cell-based assays.
Quattromed also works on natural rubber latex materials allergenicity testing and on life science products development, production and sales. They provide a large set of research tools in the area of molecular biology to life science research institutions worldwide.
While offering a wide range of clinical laboratory services, the data is used for epidemiologic research. Special attention is paid to antibacterial therapy on neonatals and chlamydial infections.

Currently, the research and development in Quattromed is done under the guidance of Dr. Mart Ustav, who is recognized as one of the most successful scientists-innovators in Estonia as well as abroad.

For more information, explore their web page: www.quattromed.com

Celecure Ltd

Celecure is a small Estonian biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of novel anticancer drugs and platform technologies. New innovative Entrybody (TM) technology allows the internalization of any antibody (protein) effectively into tumor cells.

Celecure has filed national patent applications in the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, and India for the angiogenesis inhibitor SB101 for cancer treatment.

The scientific board of Celecure involves leading researchers from Estonian universities as well as from abroad.

Have a closer look at: www.celecure.com

KPA Scientific LLC

KPA Scientific LLC is a private contract research organization (CRO). The company provides a variety of animal models for pre-clinical testing of compounds with therapeutic potential. At present, the focus is on models for testing of psychiatric as well as anti-cancer drug candidates. Their list of products includes also the phenotyping of transgenic rodents, various procedures with rodents including drug administration via different routes and consultations on experimental design.

For more information, see: www.kpa-scientific.eu

Kinasera Ltd

Kinasera is a recently founded micro-company, focused on the development of protein kinase inhibitors (PKI) and PKI-based bio-tools. Kinasera has developed an inhibitor, ARC, which is a low nanomolar bisubstrate analog-type inhibitor of basophilic PK. The Ki value of ARC towards cAMP-dependent PK (PKA) is < 3 nM, which is 5-10 times lower than for most of the drugs currently on the market. ARC could be active towards 60-80 basophilic kinases which have been related to various diseases:

AKT/PKB – several forms of cancers (breast, prostate, lung etc), type II diabetes;
PKC – pituitary and thyroid tumors, lung, gastric and prostate cancers etc;
ROCK – Alzheimer’s disease etc.

Kinasera also works on the development of ARC-Photo assay into a method to be used for measuring the kinase concentration, activity and location in cells. As changes in kinase activity can give rise to cancer or other diseases, such method can be developed into biomarker assays connected to certain diseases.

For more details see: www.kinasera.com

Asper Biotech Ltd

Asper Biotech Ltd is conducting research projects on custom genotyping services, genotyping software, genotyping hardware and genotyping consumables. Together with partners, they have developed and launched a number of DNA tests like: thalassemia, p53, Cystic Fibrosis, DNA Repair, Ashkenazi Jewish diseases and eye disease related tests: ABCR(ABCA4) , LCA, Usher, AR-RP, AD-RP, BBS.

They are also active in the development of a microarray for studying approximately up to 800 SNPs related to various clinical, diagnostic, prognostic and other applications.
Asper Biotech has been involved in several EU funded studies, for instance ArraySBS; MolDiagPaca; Health-e-Child; HotSolutes; Mutp53 (all funded under FP6). Those projects have contributed to the:

development of a resequencing assay;
development, validation and exploitation of a pancreatic cancer microarray;
development, validation and exploitation of a brain tumour microarray test;
definition of a new protocol using hypersolutes for DNA spotting; new composition for hybridization buffers destined to microarray experiments; protocols for using hypersolutes in APEX based genotyping reactions;
development of Mutp53 resequencing array.

Asper Biotech’s website is located at: www.asperbio.com

Institute of Technology, University of Tartu

Over the last years, the major universities in Estonia have undergone a practical reorganization in order to increase the relevance of their research and development.In this context, the University of Tartu has created the Institute of Technology, where the Centre of Biomedical Technology coordinates several R&D projects in the biomedical field. Their most successful workgroups are:

The research group of RNA virology, lead by Dr. Andres Merits. Their current research topics include studies of replication of different RNA genomic viruses, including alphaviruses (Semliki Forest virus, the main research object) and hepaciviruses (hepatitis C virus) and the construction of virus-based gene expression vectors. The results of these studies have been used to develop new systems for bio- and gene technology, the main topics being:

the use of virus-derived genetic elements in gene expression vectors and the use of viral enzymes and genetic elements for biotechnological applications;

the rational design and improvement of viral expression vectors by modification of the replicative functions of the viruses;

the use of viral vectors and virus based systems for selection and analysis of regulatory sequences.

The antibiotics group of the Molecular Microbiology Laboratory is lead by Dr. Jaanus Remme and Dr. Tanel Tenson. They work on:

A study of the mechanisms of action of antibiotics. One of their major research topics is the study of inhibitors of protein synthesis. In this field they have mostly focused on macrolides, which bind to the large ribosomal subunit and inhibit the exit of the newly made nascent peptide chain from the ribosome.

Another field of research is the differentiation of bacterial cultures into cells with different properties. This phenomenon is observed when the bacterial cultures enter into stationary growth phase. It is important to note that these different bacterial cells have a different sensitivity to antibiotics, some of them being able to “persist” at high concentrations of the drugs. The aim is to characterize these different bacterial cells and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for this differentiation.

This workgroup is also looking at the evolution of the translational apparatus. They have analyzed the sequence context for initiation of translation in different organisms. They have also annotated and analyzed the genes for ribosome associated GTPases in most of the fully sequenced bacterial genomes.

More about Institute of Technology: www.tuit.ut.ee

Technomedicum, Tallinn University of Technology

Similarly, the Tallinn University of Technology has founded Technomedicum, which is an innovative and interdisciplinary scientific institution linking together the Tallinn University of Technology, hospitals and other organizations and institutions related to healthcare. It provides innovative solutions and know-how in medicine, technology and science, and serves as a generator of synergies within a multidisciplinary collaboration of doctors and engineers on a high scientific level.
There are several research groups actively working on national and international projects.

The research at the Department of Clinical Medicine has two main branches:

Dr. Ruth Sepper leads research on eosinophilopoietic mechanisms of asthma airway inflammation and the potential role of membrane-bound collagenase-2 in disease progression and treatment failure in severe asthmatics;
Dr. Priit Kogerman leads research on molecular biology and immunology of tumor progression.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering is an interesting cooperation between engineers and medical doctors: a work group lead by Ivo Fridolin, who has a background of engineering, does research on the interpretation of biosignals in biomedical engineering. Medical partners are Dr. Margus Viigimaa as cardiologist and Dr. Viiu Tuulik as neurologist.

For more details and contacts explore: http://www.tm.ttu.ee/

Protobios Ltd

Protobios has started as a spin-off of the Tallinn University of Technology in 2003. Protobios is developing several techniques to isolate and propagate tissue-specific stem and progenitor cells. Firstly, Protobios has developed a technology to transdifferentiate non-neuronal cells into neural stem/progenitor cells by using manipulation of culture conditions. Secondly, Protobios has developed a technology that is based on the transient manipulation of cellular signaling systems and transcription factors to reprogram cellular regulatory mechanisms.

Protobios can be contacted via Dr. Kaia Palm: kaia@protobios.com

Cooperation in Research and Development: Where and how to Apply for Funding Successfully?

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On 12 and 13 June 2009 the first International Funding Forum (IFF) will take place at the Technopark Zurich in Switzerland.

Researchers, donors and industry specialists from across Europe will come together and will receive first hand information about the known and new sources of funding available for all stages from basic research to corporate finance of start-up or spin-off companies.

They will also receive intensive courses on the main aspects of research management.

The importance of research and development, particularly for us in the West, is shown by the following facts: The price war a few decades ago has prompted the companies to relocate their production to countries with lower wages. Inevitably, know-how was transferred too and in the meantime the low-wage countries are making use of this know-how themselves. Parallel to the Western industrialized countries, they have built up their own industry sector structure. The Western companies have earned a lot in the short to medium term. But for our own markets we created new competitors. Only one chance remains: Leadership through more and faster innovation.

Research and development (R&D) is the engine for innovation. It is an important source of new products, new markets, jobs and income for the economy. R&D secures on long term the European economy, our prosperity and last but not least, peace. Many successful companies have understood this and invest a significant portion of their profits in R&D. Similarly, European states provide growing budgets (although still low compared to the U.S.) for national and international research funding through numerous programs. This diversity of available funding for the financing of R&D is gratifying. Less gratifying is the fact that the programs are continually changing and developing, making it almost impossible for the wider target group, the universities and companies, to obtain an overview of the different funding sources. Even less encouraging are the usually very complicated administrative hurdles in the process of applying for funding. Dynamic young entrepreneurs and individual researchers without external support are usually lacking the human resources to tackle these complicated application procedures.

The following questions must be answered in the run-up to an application for funding: Who is the right sponsor? What are the conditions for applying? How time consuming is the application process? What amount of money will be offered in the case of a successful application? What is the chance of success? Who are the right persons to provide support with the application?

The answers to these questions will be provided to researchers, developers and companies for the first time in a coherent form at the first International Funding Forum (IFF) at the Technopark Zurich on 12/13 June 2009.

Instead of spending much time by visiting several individual events or collecting all the information from the different sources, the interested person will get to know all the details on the spot at first hand. The conference will be conducted in English. It is aimed particularly at researchers and developers who wish to have an overview of their financing options and incorporate this knowledge into their financial planning. Typical examples of different target groups are:

Researchers:
Sue Schmidt and Peter Haltiner will soon finish their Ph.D. theses. They are ambitious and both want to continue their research careers. They are aware that they will need to obtain third-party funding.
On IFF they inform themselves specifically about appropriate grants and funding contributions for future projects.
Entrepreneurs and research directors:
Prof. Jane Westermann heads a laboratory of medical technology since 2007 and a spin-off company from the same laboratories, manufacturing and selling miniature analytical devices for infectious diseases. She is looking for investors of an amount of about 10 million Euros for the first growth phase of the company. She is participating at IFF because she wants to know where to find the right investors and what they will expect from the company.
Multipliers:
Judith Brooks is a Research Manager. As a competent consultant she visits IFF to update herself on new funding initiatives. In addition, she considers it as a benefit to learn more about the protection of intellectual property and about the procedure for patent submissions.
Founders of research-intensive SMEs:
Yannick Weiss and Claudia Grob have loused up their first corporate project in 2006. Too late they became aware of funding initiatives. And too little they knew about the interests of capital providers. They take part in the IFF in order to start their new company in 2010 with an improved financial planning

On the first day of the conference, the national and international programs will be presented.
To find the suitable program in the diversity of all the programs is a big challenge for many researchers. Therefore, experts at the stands of the "Science Market" are available as contact points for the participants. Direct dialogue often is helpful to obtain a better orientation in the jungle of funding contributions and investment funds. Targeted networking is also promoted by making appointments with the experts, investors, or potential future research partners through an electronic partner-marketplace.

The second day will be devoted to practice. The best national and international trainers will instruct the researchers how to increase their chances of success in applying for research funding. Each participant can choose two courses from the following selection of topics:

Step by step: Application for national or international funding (EU-Framework, CTI, National Science Foundation)

Protection of intellectual property
Project management for research
Financial management for research
Intensive training for people from the private sector, seeking capital

The idea for an international forum for funding is based on years of experience in advising companies and universities. The cooperation with seven strong private-sector organizations under the EU Framework Program for Research and Development underscores the international dimension of the Funding Forum (Project KAPPA-Health, www.kappa-health.org ).

The Forum is organised by eurelations AG, the KAPPA-Health Partners and CBS Congress & Business Services.

More information and registration at: www.fundingforum.eu

The International Organising Committee: Patrik Frei and Kasia Galecka (VentureValuation, Zurich), Yoram Lev-Yehudi (BeaconTech Ltd., TelAviv), Michel Moulinet and Anne-Cecile De Giacomoni (ALMA Consulting Group, Lyon), Jacques Viseur (EUROTOP, Brussels), Hartmut Welck (Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum, Stuttgart, Germany), Andrea Degen (eurelations AG, Zurich), Theodore Pananos (Bionova Ltd., Athens)

A new call was launched on Structural Funds in Romania having the purpose of developing high scientific R&D projects with the contribution of foreign experts.

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SECTORAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME “Increase of Economic Competitiveness” Priority Axis 2 – “Research, Technological Development and Innovation for Competitiveness” ;
Key Area of Intervention 2.1. Research and development activities in partnership with universities/institutes of R&D and enterprises with the purpose of obtaining practical results in Economy ;

Operation 2. R&D projects of high scientific level with the contribution of foreign experts.
The competition was launched on 10^thof March 2009.

Deadline: 11^th of June 2009 .

Competition Code: POSCCE-A2-O2.1.2- 2009-2.

See detailed information and procedures in attachement

European Entrepreneurship Video Award 2009

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

European Entrepreneurship Video Award 2009

The European Commission has launched a video contest to stimulate reflection about entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial career.

All citizens of Europe, especially young people at schools and universities, are invited to produce short and creative videos on one of the following topics: "The entrepreneurial spirit" - "Innovative Entrepreneurship" - "Responsible Entrepreneurship". The winners in each category will be awarded a prize of 3,000 Euro.

Deadline for submitting a video is 31 March 2009.

The winners will be invited to the opening event of the European SME week in Brussels on 6 May 2009 where the award ceremony will take place. Further information at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policy/entrepreneurship/video-award/index_en.htm

Universal Biotech Innovation Grant

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Universal Biotech Innovation Grant encourages innovative talent and the development of new processes or products in the biotechnology industries sector.

The emphasis for the 2009 Universal Biotech Innovation Grant will be placed on therapeutic innovation. The applications must be entered under one of the two following thematic areas:

Targeted therapy
• Cancer
• Infectiology
• Orphan diseases

Diagnostic products
• Biomarkers (in vivo, in vitro)

CRITERIA OF EVALUATION
The participants must be :
A French or European Young Innovative Company
A French or European research team member or
Individual

GRANT
A Grant up to 100 000 euros will be shared by two or three winners.
These grants will be awarded after a selection process and a critical evaluation of the candidates applications by an expert jury.
Universal Biotech will assist the winners through their development with certain special privileges and assistance.

The closing date for application is on 15th April 2009!

AWARD CEREMONY
The award ceremony will be held in Eurobio Congress 2009 in Lille (23rd - 25th of September).

SMEs go Health present at Brussels workshop on 26 February 2009

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Under the headline “Maximising outcomes of EU-funded research projects – tools for success”, the European Commission has invited small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and other interested parties in health research to Brussels on 26 February to get informed about SME participation in Health research.

The event, which was organised by the Health Research Directorate, was very well attended and provided a lot of useful information about EU support mechanisms available for SMEs. Besides attending the interesting presentations, participants had the opportunity to visit a small fair with relevant associations and support structures in a relaxed atmosphere during the lunch and coffee breaks.

The SMEs go Health-project was present at the fair with a booth, where its coordinator, Ms Ines Haberl from the Austrian FFG, and some other consortium members informed visitors about the project’s activities and services to support SMEs in Health Research.

The large interest in the project at the fair was impressive and the team enjoyed the informative discussions and fruitful exchange of ideas with the visitors. The SMEs go Health consortium takes this opportunity to thank the organising Health Research Directorate, in particular its scientific officer Ms Ludovica Serafini, for being invited to this encouraging event.

The presentations from the workshop can be found on:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health/sme_en.html

If you would also like to talk to one of the partners of the project or know more about upcoming events relevant to SMEs and Health Research, please consult our website under “Contact us” or “Events”.

Ambient Assisted Living call for proposals published

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme has launched its second call for proposals.

It is dedicated to 'Information and communication technology (ICT) based solutions for the advancement of social interaction of elderly people'. Thus, project ideas submitted should aim to help people to stay active and socially connected as they age.

The core of the AAL programme, which figures among the European Commission's Article 169 initiatives, is to provide innovative ICT-based solutions for the elderly. This includes products, systems and services addressing the needs and the wishes of the end-users.

The total indicative funding amounts to EUR 60.9 million, to which the European Commission contributes EUR 23 million.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.aal-europe.eu

Remarks:

Category:Calls

Data Source Provider:Official Journal of the European Union

Document Reference:OJ No C 38 of 17 February 2009

Subject index: Information and communication technology applications ,Coordination, Cooperation,Social Aspects

Programme Acronym: FP7-ART 169

MYORES - COMPETITIVE CALL FOR ADDITIONAL PROJECT PARTNERS

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We are pleased to inform you about a competitive call targeted for integration of new SME partners organized by the MYORES network of excellentce.

MYORES, the first European project dedicated to Multi-organismic Approach to study Normal and Aberrant Muscle Development, Function and Repair, currently active in the Sixth Framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities contributing to the creation of the European research area and to innovation (2002-2006) requires the participation of new project partners.

MYORES has retained a specific budget dedicated to favour the integration of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the project. The overall objective, as described in the MYORES Contract is the transfer of acquired data to biotech and clinical applications.

The call text has also been published in Cordis. Please see the following link: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp6/projects_call.htm

Cancer Biomarkers: Call for projects

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Foundation Fournier-Majoie pour l’Innovation (FFMI), founded in Belgium in 2006, has launched its third call for projects in order to support, from the initiation stage, entrepreneurs personally committed to promoting innovative projects aimed at delivering improvements in the health and welfare of human beings. The call is supported by the Centre for Philanthropy of the Belgian King Baudouin Foundation.

This call covers any project intended to improve cancer prognosis through either a genuine early diagnostic tool and/or better indicators/predictors of treatment efficiency. Functional imaging markers as tools to predict responses/benefits from anticancer therapies are included in this scope.

FFMI has opted for the principle of refundable grants only in case of success. The amount of grants allocated to successful applicant(s) will range from €75,000 to €1,000,000 in one or more installments. A maximum of 3 grants will be awarded.

The projects must be initiated or developed by teams based in Belgium or international teams having established collaborative programmes with a Belgian-based entity. In the latter case, the Belgian entity will be responsible for submitting the application. The call is open to researchers or research teams within a university or a research centre, laboratories or (start-up) companies.

Applications must be submitted in English only, using a standard application form available on the website: www.kbs-frb.be. Project files must be submitted by e-mail to the King Baudouin Foundation to gmt@kbs-frb.be.

For more information, see:
- King Baudouin Foundation: www.kbs-frb.be
- Fondation Fournier Majoie pour l’Innovation : www.ffmi.eu

ICT PSP - 3rd Call for Proposals

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This call for proposals is based on the 2009 ICT PSP work programme. 99.5 million Euro of EU funding is available under this third call for proposals.

The ICT PSP aims to stimulate innovation and competitiveness and accelerate the development of a sustainable, competitive, innovative and inclusive information society. It supports activities to accelerate innovation and implementation of ICT based services and systems through the wider uptake and best use of ICT and the exploitation of digital content by citizens, governments and businesses.

The third Call for Proposals for the ICT PSP covers 8 themes:

1. ICT for health, ageing and inclusion
    1.1: ICT for patient-centred health service
    1.2: Innovative eHealth tools and services in real life - learning together
    1.3: ICT for ageing well / independent living
    1.4: e-Accessibility thematic network
2. Digital Libraries
3. ICT for government and governance
4. ICT for energy efficiency and environment
5. Multilingual Web
6. Public Sector information
7. Internet evolution and security (including RFID)
8. Open innovation, user experience and living labs

For each theme a limited set of pilot actions will be supported and can be complemented by networking actions.

From 2009 on, the ICT PSP covers actions for developing and (re)using digital content previously addressed through the eContentplus programme until the end of 2008.

Deadline: 2 June 2009

For further information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm

Health research excellence in the spotlight : Turkey

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

GATA Psychopharmacology Research Unit

The psychopharmacology research in Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA) has started in the Medical Pharmacology Department in 1984. The aim was to find solutions for recent problems in neuropsychopharmacology and to develop new medicines for clinical usage.

Recent studies have resulted in a patent. Exciting results on ethiopathogenesis and pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia-like disorders were reported from this unit by Professor Uzbay and his co-workers. Professor Tayfun Uzbay, head of the Psychopharmacolgy Research Unit, has been conducting a project titled “Investigation of Behavioral and Neurochemical Bases of the Relationship between Alcohol/Substance Dependence and Schizophrenia” since 2005. The project has been supported by Turkish Scientific and Research Council (TUBITAK, project # 105S387). Some records obtained from this project seem to mark a new epoch in diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia-like disorders.

Professor Uzbay and co-workers showed that agmatine a new neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain may cause schizophrenia-like symptoms in laboratory animals. Interestingly, some articles about the relationship between schizophrenia and some agmatine-like polyamines like spermine and spermidine were published almost twenty years ago.

Dr. Uzbay and co-workers Dr. Kayir, Dr. Goktalay and Dr. Yildirim have just filed a patent for their interesting discovery. Their preliminary results were published as an abstract in the “European Psychopharmacology” in 2008. Final results are expected to be published soon in the “Journal of Psychopharmacology”.

The unit’s experimental research is on:

alcohol and substance dependence
epilepsy and seizures
anxiety and depression
neurodegenerative illnesses, Alzheimer's disease and dementia
learning and memory
the quantification of neurotransmitters by HPLC and microdialysis
acute and chronic pain

Other scientific production:

Up to now, 63 articles have been published in journals indexed by SCI (62 of them are research articles and one of them is a review article). The contribution of this unit to the total scientific production of GMMA is approximately 11%.

For more detailed information, see: http://www.gata.edu.tr/dahilibilimler/farmakoloji/psikofarmakoloji_ing.htm
and by e-mail: tuzbay@gata.edu.tr

GENAR Institute for Public Health and Genomics Research

ITT – Advanced Medical Technologies Ltd (Ileri Tip Teknolojileri Ltd Sti) is a biotechnology company (SME) established in 2001 in Turkey by Dr. Serdar Savas. In 2004, ITT established the R&D institute “GENAR Institute for Public Health and Genomics Research” in the science park of Hacettepe University. The GENAR Institute aims to transform scientific developments in the area of biotechnology, especially genetics and genomics, into products and services that improve human health, the quality of life and performance and extends life expectancy.

The GENAR Institute has three centers:

GENAR Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics Research and Diagnostic Laboratories are the first high-throughput molecular genetic analysis laboratories of Turkey and with their technical infrastructure, one of the most developed genetic analysis laboratories in the region.
GENAR Center for Nutrigenetics and Lifestyle Research focuses on quantification of the lifestyle of the individual by his nutrition, exercise and personal health habits.
Center for Personalized Medicine and Pharmacogenetic Research focuses on utilizing genomic variation for interventions geared towards early diagnosis and personalized pharmacotherapy.

The GENAR Institute has been carrying out several R&D projects. GENAR is partner of an FP6 EU- funded integrated project called EPICURE - Functional Genomics and Neurobiology of Epilepsy, which aims to develop new therapeutic strategies for epilepsy treatment. Another prominent example of the R&D projects of GENAR is OBESIS, which stands for the “Development of Genetic and Information Technologies Assisted System on Obesity Treatment and Control”. The project strives to overcome the weaknesses of current treatment and management approaches.

GENAR has several other research activities focusing on the understanding of the genetic basis of chronic and complex diseases and the development of products of high economic value and feasibility, deriving from the interaction of the genetic basis with other contributing factors.

For more detailed information, see: www.genar.gen.tr and by e-mail: tcesuroglu@genar.gen.tr

Onkim Stem-Cell Technologies

Onkim Stem-Cell Technologies is one of the leading small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey working in health research. The company was established to run research and development studies on any type of tissue and cellular material in Istanbul Technical University, Technological Development Center, by the investment of the Sabanc holding, one of the biggest family owned holdings in Turkey. Onkim is a medical facility built according to the national Good Laboratory Practice and Test Laboratory Documentation Regulations and received the international GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) Validation Certificate on October 2007 and the work certification (Work Certificate Number: 02.KKB.01) form The Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health, as per 2008.

ONKIM uses stem cells obtained from umbilical cord blood. The company developed several unique methods enabling stem cell differentiation into various cell types (fibroblasts, neuroblasts, epithelial cells, dendritic cells, etc.).

Their major fields of expertise are:

Autologous Cord Blood Banking
Allogenic Cord Blood Banking
Pathophysiology Research & Development Laboratory Services
Research & Development in Tissue Engineering
Validation Master Plan (VMP) Design – VMP Consultancy Services
Corporate Solutions Partnership
GMP Documentation Design – GMP Consultancy Services
Providing consultancy services to the pharmaceutical companies working with allogenic cells under GMP conditions for researching product side effects

For more detailed information: www.onkim.com.tr and by e-mail: info@onkim.com.tr

OMEGA Expertise

Omega CRO is a Contract Research Organization that provides high quality clinical and epidemiological research management to national and international pharmaceutical companies and other health-related organizations.
Omega CRO, founded in March 1997, is an independent research organization specialized in planning, conducting and monitoring clinical and epidemiological studies, data management, data analysis, presentation of data and bioinformatics.
They have managed approximately 750 local and international medium to large scale projects, funded by pharmaceutical companies, health-related non-profit organizations and research funds.

The main areas of expertise are:

Large Scale Epidemiological Studies
Data Management and Biostatistics
Clinical and Observational Trial Management
Bioinformatics Services
Medical Writing Services

For more information: www.omega-cro.com.tr and by e-mail: info@omega-cro.com.tr

HEMOSOFT

HEMOSOFT is a small-and-medium sized enterprise which designs software and integrated electronic solutions and provides training, project development and consultancy services in all possible areas which require high levels of technology, especially in the field of health. The unique solutions created by Hemosoft in areas such as blood bank management, transfusion and transfusion feedback have been used in many major medical facilities in Turkey. Hemosoft specifically develops and implements projects in areas such as software development, electronic system design, consultancy services, project development, health architecture establishment, educational health-related multimedia environment and turn-key restructuring projects.

Some of the project examples of the company are:

International Projects:

E-Training of Medical Staff to Reach Different Culture Adolescents (Project Coordinator) : the project was submitted to the Leonardo da Vinci, European Union Vocational Training Programme and accepted by the EU in June 2006 and has officially started on 9-10 October 2006.
DINAMICS (Diagnostic Nanotech and Microtech Sensors) : DINAMICS is co-funded by the European Commission as an Integrated Project (IP) under the 6^th Framework Programme. Hemosoft takes part in the project as participant for IT related tasks.
GUARANTEE (Guardian Angel for the Extended Home Environment) : The GUARANTEE project has been submitted to the ITEA2 programme and it will be realized in the period June 2009-2012. The project coordinator is Philips from the Netherlands. Hemosoft will take part in the project as a partner responsible for data processing and decision support engines.

National Projects:

Blood Bank Information Management System (HemOnline) (Project Coordinator)
National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (NosOnline) (Project Coordinator)
Bone Marrow Transplantation Monitoring and Decision Support System (Project Coordinator)
HIV/AIDS Patient Registry and Surveillance System (HIVOnline) (Project Coordinator)
Exercise Prescription Decision Support System (Project Coordinator)

For more detailed information, see: www.hemosoft.com.tr
and by e-mail: info@hemosoft.com

KAPPA-Health: How to better exploit the results from EU Health research projects

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new EU-funded project called KAPPA-Health has been recently launched to assess and valorise the success of small and medium-sized biomedical companies (SMEs), which have received funds from the European Union Framework Programmes 6 and 7 for research and technological development.

In the European economy, SMEs in biomedical sectors such as healthcare, biotechnology and medical technology are important contributors to competitiveness and growth. Despite the incredible potential of these SMEs to provide solutions for the cure of debilitating diseases and to improve citizens’ quality of life, public and private funding for biomedical research and design is declining – a trend that could jeopardize efforts to develop improved treatments against life-threatening illnesses.

Although public funding by the European Union Framework Programmes accounts only for 4-5% of the total investment in R&D, the FP projects bring together the critical mass of stakeholders with the aim to improve the health of European citizens and to boost the European economy. In almost all cases, additional capital from other public sources, private investors or public-private partnerships is needed to bring biomedical discoveries towards the market.

The overall objective of KAPPA-Health is to contribute to the creation of the most favourable support environment to SMEs and to accelerate the process of bringing new products/processes/services to the market.

The KAPPA-Health project will contribute to support better access to additional capital from other public and private sources and thus the commercial exploitation of FP6 and FP7 project results.

The KAPPA-Health project will evaluate what makes an SME successful in terms of its participation in an FP6/FP7 EU co-funded research project and how this joint research can lead to successful applications.

Through survey and in depth interview of biomedical SMEs participating in FP6 “Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health” and FP7 “Health” theme, the KAPPA-Health project participants will identify the major performance factors by considering quantitative elements such as the number of out-licensing/new products on the market and taking into account longer term qualitative impacts in terms of sustainable growth of companies and establishment of winning business strategies.

Contact . Dr J. Viseur, Euro Top – project Coordinator

The 5th call for transnational projects of the EraSME partnership is open!

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The EraSME project is an EU initiative covering research and innovation programmes from 17 countries/regions and is funded by the 7^th R&D EU Framework Programme under the ERA-NET scheme. The projects will be funded by the respective national funding programmes.

Funding possibilities will be offered to two project formats. In either case the consortium must involve at least two countries:

Smaller trans-national co-operation projects: at least two SMEs and one RTO (Research and Technology Organisation),
Larger consortia: at least four SMEs and two RTOs.

This call will be open to cooperation proposals in all fields of technology. Funding possibilities are given for projects from the following countries/regions:
Austria, Belgium/Flanders, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy/Tuscany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain/Madrid, and Sweden.

Documents and detailed information will be available on the following website:

http://www.era-sme.net/public/5th-call-for-proposals/5th-call-for-proposals

See section "Help Desk" for detailed information and relevant documents.

The closing date of the call will be March 31, 2009.

Practical guide on EU funding

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Central to the realization of the goals of the Lisbon Agenda is the need to promote the knowledge economy, in particular through research, technological development and innovation (RTDI).

EU support for RTDI is provided mainly through the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7), the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the Structural Funds.

When operating individually, these three funding sources already act as effective tools in support of RTDI. However, their value can be further enhanced by combining them. How can this be done?

The answer to this question is provided by the “Practical Guide to EU Funding Opportunities for Research and Innovation”. In addition to practical information on combining the different funding sources, the guide includes a description of each fund, advice for policy makers and an innovative checklist and scorecard. These allow potential beneficiaries to quickly identify exactly how they can access European funding at every stage of a project.

For further information and to download the guide, please visit:

Announcement: Workshop "Small Businesses (SMEs) in Health Research". - 26 February 2009

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Click here to download the agenda

The theme of the workshop is “Maximising outcomes of EU funded research projects and Tools for success”. This workshop is organised by the Health Research Directorate of the European Commission.

Objectives:
The Health Directorate is bringing together SMEs participating in recently funded research projects to provide information on existing support structures and assist projects participants in maximising outcomes of EU funded research.

Research-intensive SMEs are the main economic drivers of healthcare, biotechnology and medical technologies. Inclusion of high-tech SMEs in the health and biotechnology sectors has gained momentum during FP6 and is expected to further increase in FP7. But the time lag to commercialisation for health products is very long (10-12 years).

The Commission will help SMEs through research funding, during the early phases of development. Therefore it considers a priority to provide tools and information to facilitate progress to the later stages.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN - CLICK HERE

Please note that priority will be given to SMEs participating in EU-funded FP6 and FP7 projects funded under the Health Theme.

Promotion of SMEs go Health in Denmark

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Danish representative for the “SMEs go Health”- Initiative from EuroCenter, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, has successfully promoted the project at two major events in Denmark during autumn 2008.

The first event, the international conference BioTech Forum, is the largest and leading event of its kind in Northern Europe. The fair attracts representatives from "Big Pharma", national and regional clusters, banks, organisations and industry experts from all over the world. BioTech Forum 2008 was held in Copenhagen from 23^rd to 25^th of September 2008.

During the conference, “SMEs go Health” was presented at an information stand and many Danish and European researchers seized the occasion to hear about the possibilities offered in the “Health-theme” within the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) and the support offered by “SMEs go Health” to potential applicants. The majority of the persons requesting information about “SMEs go Health” were executives and industry specialists from the European health and life science sector. They were particularly interested in the possibility of finding relevant academic partners through the partner search facility.

The second occasion of promoting “SMEs go Health” was at a science dating event organised by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation in late September 2008. There were approximately 50 participants, representing Danish and Swedish biomed and biotech companies, venture capitalists and networkers. 15 participants came from Israel and were members of life science SME’s and organizations. “SMEs go Health” was presented at an information stand and the participants were in general very interested in hearing about the support available in their respective countries regarding participation in the FP7 “Health theme”.

Guidelines for Preparing FP7 Proposals and Managing EU-funded Research Projects

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Two guidelines have been developed by Eystein Kallhovde, Oslo Projektservice AS, Norway (www.prosjektservice.no), supporting project coordinators, work package leaders, project partners and beneficiaries of FP7 EU-funded research projects in terms of preparing proposals as well as regarding management procedures.

Essential Procedures for Preparing FP7 Proposals
The purpose of this publication is to outline the essential procedures for preparing FP7 proposals. It is intended primarily for research organisations and research-intensive enterprises that are planning to take advantage of the funding opportunities provided by FP7. This publication may be useful to both beginners and the more experienced who are looking for a strategic approach to creating successful project proposals. It consists of 3 parts, describing the strategic, the planning and the writing phase of a proposal.

Download your copy of “Essential Procedures for Preparing FP7 Proposals” here.

Management Procedures for EU-funded Research Projects
The purpose of this publication is to provide guidance on management procedures for project coordinators, work package leaders and beneficiaries of EU-funded research projects. It is intended primarily for ongoing projects and for projects in their start-up phase. However, this publication may also be useful for projects in the planning and even the proposal stages. It consists of 3 parts, namely contractual requirements, practical recommendations and explanatory diagrams.

Download your copy of “Management Procedures for EU-funded Research Projects” here.

Success stories from researchers in FP7 on SGH website!

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you are still wondering about the feasibility and the benefits of a participation in an FP7-project, have a look at our newly published success stories!

Besides testimonies from SMEs successfully participating in projects under the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006), we now have the first success stories from SMEs participating in FP7 projects (2007-2013). Five SMEs provide a description of their participation and share their insights into the challenges, the experiences learned and the benefits gained from their Health-projects.

The first success story highlights the experiences from the Austrian biopharmaceutical SME “Oridis Biomed”. This is an Austrian biopharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of its proprietary, disease-driven research platform enabling the medical validation of drug discovery approaches and biomarkers.

ORIDIS Biomed successfully joined the FP7 GENINCA-project, which aims to identify markers for novel therapeutic and/or preventative strategies, as well as facilitating tumor diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring. Markus Otte from ORIDIS Biomed underlines in his interview that, thanks to a good coordination effort, the proposal preparation phase and the negotiation phase were very straightforward and productive. Mr Otte expresses his satisfaction with his participation and gives some tips to SMEs and academia that would like to get involved in FP7 health-projects.

In each forthcoming newsletter we will highlight another success story, but you can already consult all of them on our website.

If you would like to give your comments on your experience in participating in FP7-projects or if you want to give a testimony yourself, do not hesitate to contact one of the project partners.

Calls 3 in the area of Health are now closed !

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

On 3^rd September 2008, the European Commission has published a number calls for proposals under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

These included two calls addressing Health, FP7-Health-2009-single-stage (see Call fiche with topics here) and FP7-Health-2009-two-stage (see Call fiche with topics here), both having the deadline on 3^rd December 2008. Detailed call documents can be found in Cordis website.

These two calls are now closed

SMEs go Health project offered an extensive database for free to search potential partners in these topics!

As these topics will not be valid for further calls they will be removed and only thematic category will be kept for further matching

Access the database here.

Overview of the participation in the third HEALTH call

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The third HEALTH call for proposals closed on the 3rd of December 2008: a total of 679 proposals have been successfully uploaded through the EPSS System. The European Commission, following the rules of participation in FP7, did not accept any additional material after the deadline of the call (3 December 2008, 17.00 Brussels time).

• For the single-stage call, 531 proposals were submitted, of which 14 have been deemed ineligible;
• For the two-stage call, 148 proposals were submitted, of which 3 have been deemed ineligible.

As in previous calls, the vast majority of proposals were submitted on the last day, of which one third even in the last hour. Despite warnings from the Commission, a number of applicants consequently had difficulties in the final hours or minutes of the call and were unable to submit a full proposal.

The remote evaluation process started on December 12, 2008. The Consensus and panel meetings were spread over 6 weeks, from 19th January to 27th February, and the ethics screening followed, lasting for 2 weeks, from 2nd to 13th March.

About 684 evaluators have been involved in the single-stage call and about 58 in the two-stage call.

Ludovica Serafini, the SME Contact Officer in the Health Directorate, underlined that the SME participation in the first two health calls was much lower than expected. The European Commission, analyzing the submitted proposals, found out that several participants from governmental bodies erroneously encoded themselves as SMEs. Overall, only 11% of the funding is going to SMEs: a number below the overall objective of 15% of the total FP7 budget to be dedicated to SMEs.

SMEs go Health is devoted to enhance the participation of SMEs in the forthcoming HEALTH call through its assistance services to the proposers, the facilities dedicated to consortium building and the constant interaction with the EC.

Call for participation in an important survey - help structuring the European research landscape

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Call for participation in an important survey – help structuring the European research landscape

Within the project EATRIS, several European research ministries and various research centres plan to provide research infrastructure for translational medical research from basic discovery to the first clinical applications. This infrastructure is supposed to accessible for the research communities and SMEs and to offer tailored services for translation.

To match the interests of the SMEs and academic research institutions the needs are investigated in a short questionnaire.

At http://eatris.tmf-ev.de/tabid/419/Default.aspx you can communicate your own needs for research infrastructure and contribute to a better research environment.

More information on EATRIS (European Advanced Research Infrastructure in Medicine) is provided under: www.eatris.eu.

What are the benefits of a two-stage submission ?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last September, the third Health call has been launched and for the first time the two-stage submission procedure will be applied on certain health topics. Only large-scale integrating projects are concerned. The procedure has been introduced to lower the administrative burden and related costs for potential participants.

A two-stage submission procedure means that a detailed application will not have to be submitted until a first assessment of the likely benefits has been made. This will be done on the basis of a limited set of information that has to be submitted only by the coordinator.

This means that detailed Part A input is required from the coordinator only in the first stage.

Part B is limited to the following subjects and length:

PART B

FIRST CALL

B1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call

B2. Impact

Total: 5 pages

B3 “Consortium and Resources to be committed”

In this step it is optional, but with a maximum length of 1 page.

This short proposal will then be evaluated against a restricted range of criteria, i.e. only those sub-criteria indicated in the table below.

Evaluation criteria
S/T QUALITY: Scientific and/or Technological excellence	IMPLEMENTATION: Quality and efficiency of the implementation and the management	IMPACT: Potential impact through the development, dissemination and use of project results
Soundness of concept and quality of objectives Progress beyond the state-of-the-art Quality and effectiveness of the S/T methodology and associated work plan	not evaluated in the first stage	Contribution, at the European (and/or at the international) level, to the expected impacts listed in the work programme under the relevant topic/activity

On these criteria, a stage 1 proposal needs to pass following thresholds :

	Minimum threshold/Possible score
S/T quality	4/5
Impact	3/5
Overall threshold required	8/10

When the proposal achieves satisfactory scores on the first evaluation, participants will be invited to submit a full proposal.

Only in this stage will they need to give all details on the project, including work packages, deliverables and milestones. This information should respect following page limits:

PART B	SECOND CALL
B.1 Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call	Section 1: 20 pages.
B2. Implementation	Section 2.1: 5 pages Section 2.2: 1 page per participant Section 2.3: No maximum length applies to this section Section 2.4 – 2 pages
B3. Impact	Maximum length for the whole of section 3: 10 pages
B4. Ethical issues	No maximum length for section 4: it depends on the number of issues involved
B5. Consideration of gender aspects	Maximum length for section 5: 1 page

The application will then be evaluated against the normal, full set of criteria and will receive a score independent of the first-stage result. This means that scores achieved in stage 1 are not taken into account at stage 2.

Evaluation criteria and thresholds for stage 2 proposals:

	Minimum threshold/Possible score
S/T quality	4/5
Implementation	3/5
Impact	3/5
Overall threshold required	12/15

The deadline for submission of the first-stage proposal is the 3rd of December 2008. Participants who receive a positive score will consequently be invited to submit a second-stage proposal by (most probably) the 22nd of April 2009. The procedure should be finalized by the end of 2009.

The two-stage procedure aims to improve the cost-benefit ratio of submitting proposals and will hopefully encourage more participants. All details on the new procedure can be found in the Guide for Applicants relevant to this call. The information specific to the two-stage submission procedure is highlighted in boxes for your convenience.

Eurreca, a network for excellence on micronutrients - with special attention to SMEs

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Vitamins and minerals are familiar to most people in Europe. While the diet is generally adequate, some vulnerable groups may need extra steps to achieve adequate intakes. SMEs can help through the food they produce or the technical instruments they bring to the market.

EURRECA: providing the foundation of micronutrient recommendations

EURRECA is a Network of Excellence whose members are scientists, nutrition companies, consumer organisations, small & medium-sized enterprises and wider stakeholders, funded by the European Commission (EC) to work together to address the problem of national variations in micronutrient recommendations. The Network is made up of 34 partners based in 17 countries. The aim of EURRECA is to produce Europe-wide scientific consensus on the evidence on which micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) recommendations can be developed and applied – including applications by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

EURRECA’s SME group

EURRECA has created an almost unique dedicated SME group (composed of SMEs and academics) whose core business is transferring knowledge from EURRECA to European SMEs – through various activities including our SME Associate Network. As a consequence, European SMEs should receive from EURRECA insights that will give a global competitive advantage. The industry sectors that the EURRECA SME group targets are food producers, laboratories, companies with an interest in nutrigenomics and nutrition software producers.

Many food SMEs can gain from micronutrient-rich foods – if supported

The EURRECA SME group’s approach involves the follow-up on unmet population needs in terms of vitamins and minerals that EURRECA’s research has identified. This includes supporting food producing SMEs that are interested in promoting their micronutrient rich foods or in developing new, functional ones, taking into account nutrient and health claims. Interested SMEs can join our SME network and find out if their product is rich in micronutrients – vitamins and minerals - and then promote their products or produce innovative ones that deliver micronutrients to the groups of people who need these to be healthy.

Helping to advance nutrition software

Today, nutrition is often applied through software. Hence, any new scientific finding cascades down to consumers also thanks to new software or software updates. Computer applications with micronutrient information are also essential to develop food labels with nutrient facts and to design menus that meet the requirements of the target population. The market is huge, but vastly under-served especially in some parts of the continent.
The EURRECA SME group is extracting advances of EURRECA research and transferring it to nutrition software producers. A dedicated forum is available on the EURRECA website and a Wiki-based instrument on nutrition software will be launched soon, for users and producers. To help food producers and nutritionists in Eastern Europe, EURRECA is also developing its own software tool, while a database of vitamin and mineral recommendations across Europe will be made available to SMEs – for use in food development or in software.

Analytical services: how laboratories can do better

Analyses for minerals and, even more so, for vitamins may be expensive, but are often required for appropriate labeling and for claims and also for R&D. Yet, the EURRECA SME group has highlighted that the analytical methods have to be chosen carefully to avoid mistakes. Guidance on this topic will soon be made available through fact sheets.

Nutrimetabolomics: opportunities tomorrow and today

Researchers in metabolomics, the most promising of the “omics” in nutrition, need technical advances from SMEs to deliver new biological insights. SMEs may also be interested in waiting in the starting block - as soon as the science is ready - to deliver personalized nutritional advice. Again, the EURRECA SME Associate Network permits to be kept abreast on discoveries in the field and to join outstanding scientists in identifying the opportunities on the horizon and to be enabled to use them.

Training for SMEs in micronutrients

Exploiting the opportunities of micronutrients requires specific knowledge, some of which SMEs need in-house. The EURRECA SME group will soon launch a series of training events and workshops for SMEs.
Join the SME Associate Network and introduce yourself to the forum with your SME’s interests or contact us directly: http://www.eurreca.org/everyone

The ERA-Net EUROTRANS-BIO's 4th Transnational Call will be launched on 7 January 2009 - Deadline: 27 April 2009

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

EUROTRANS-BIO (ETB) is an initiative co-funded by the European Commission involving 11 European countries and regions working together to coordinate their national or regional public funding programmes in order to stimulate international R&D co-operation between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME’s). Its goal is to encourage biotech SMEs to share risks, costs and skills related to innovation. Although SMEs form the main target, universities and research institutes as well as large companies are eligible as partners.

It is an objective of ETB to establish cross-border partnerships between SMEs in the biotech sector to improve and accelerate transnational technology transfer, to strengthen the European efforts to achieve sustainable development, to develop an internal market for research & technology and to develop an efficient joint European research policy.

The ETB 4th Call is launched with the participation of 7 countries: Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary*, Italy and The Netherlands, and 4 regions: Basque Country (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Wallonia (Belgium). It is a generic call including all fields of biotechnology: red, green, grey/white and blue biotechnology. Supported projects follow a bottom-up approach.

The ETB Consortium commits up to € 30 million of funding to this call. The deadline for submitting proposals is 27 April 2009.

On 7 January 2009, all the information material will be available online at: www.eurotransbio.net.

(*) Participation of Hungary is very probable but has yet to be formally confirmed.

Health research excellence in the spotlight : Latvia

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Latvia is in the focus of the first of a series of SMEs go Health newsletter articles presenting key research and innovation actors in the “Health” area of European Member States, Associated Countries and Candidate Countries. We invite you to learn more about the expertise of potential new partners for your FP7 projects!

The Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (IOS) is the main scientific centre of Latvia in organic and medicinal chemistry. The main fields of the Institute competency are:

Drug design and organic synthesis;
Pharmacological and biological studies;
Analytical services;
Clinical trials (Phases 3 and 4);
Advanced technologies in organic synthesis.

A total of 17 original medicines and over 60 manufacturing technologies have been developed and introduced by the Institute in the past. The main ones are: Furagin, Furagin soluble (antibacterial agents), Mildronate (antiischaemic agent), Methindione (antiepileptic agent), Imiphos, Ftorafur (antineoplastic agents), Gludantane (antiparkinson agent), Foridone (antihypertensive agent), Leakadine (immunomodulator), Diethone (radioprotective agent) etc.

Recent advances in drug discovery are related mostly to anti-cancer and CNS agents:

A new anti cancer drug (HDAC inhibitor, currently under clinical trials in USA and EU) has been developed in cooperation with UK partners (see for example: Kalvinsh I.; Loza E.; Gailite V. Carbamic acid compounds comprising a sulfonamide linkage as HDAC inhibitors. US 2007/0004806, 4 Jan 2007).

Together with a German company IOS has developed second generation anti – Alzheimer disease medication, which now undergoes clinical trials both in the USA and the EU. Scientists from IOS were involved both in the design of the active entity and the synthetic development of the molecule (see, for example, Henrich M.; Danysz W.; Parsons C.G.R.; Kalvinsh I.; Kauss V.; Jirgensons A.; Gold M. Unsaturated 1-amino-alkylcyclohexane NMDA, 5HT3, and neuronal nicotinic receptor antagonists. US 2003/0166634 A1, 4 Sep 2003).

Discovery of a new class of anticancer agents effectively fighting pancreas tumor (see Kalvins I.; Andrianov V.; Shestakova I.; Kanepe I.; Domracheva I. 1-Aziridino-1-hydroxyiminomethylderivates, method for the production thereof and medicaments containing said compounds. US 7,078,418 B1, 18 Jun 2006)

The Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis is actively collaborating not only with Latvian pharmaceutical companies, but also with companies from Germany, Sweden and the USA. The Institute has obtained a wide international experience to be a reliable partner in the FP7 Health projects. At present, IOS is a partner in the FP6 collaborative project DeZnIT - Design of zinc metalloenzyme targeted drugs using an Integrated Technology approach. More detailed information about the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis is available at http://www.osi.lv or by e-mail: sinta@osi.lv.

ASLA BIOTECH Ltd is a small and medium-sized company from Latvia founded by professional scientists, with extensive international experience in microbiology, molecular biology, immunology and biochemistry. The SME provides complex contract studies, starting from artificial gene synthesis, through expression of proteins in different backgrounds, generating specific reagents to the cell target and visualisation of the target in the cell, tissue, organ and/or organism, as well as NMR studies of protein/DNA structures and target/ligand interaction.

Core competencies and technologies provided by ASLA BIOTECH are:

1. DNA isolation from human and animal tissues, cultured cells, bacteria and plants.
2. Gene synthesis.
3. Expression of proteins.
4. Polyclonal & pre-immune sera.
5. Monoclonal Antibody Development and Production.
6. Pf1 phage for NMR analysis.
7. NMR protein standards.
8. Proteins labeled by stable isotopes.
9. Establishment of stable cell lines.
10. NMR spectroscopy of proteins.

ASLA Biotech Ltd is a reliable partner, working at international level for many years. Their partners and customers are from Sweden, the USA, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, etc. The SME demonstrated high quality skills as a professional partner in two FP6 projects COMPUVAC (Rational Design and Standardized Evaluation of Novel Genetic Vaccines) and BacAbs ("Assessment of Structural Requirements in Complement-Mediated Bactericidal Events: Towards a Global Approach to the Selection of New Vaccine Candidates”). More detailed information about ASLA BIOTECH Ltd can be found at http://www.asla-biotech.com or by e-mail: info@asla-biotech.com.

INTEGRIS Ltd is small, but innovative Latvian company which focuses mainly on mobile system development based on Pocket PC (PDA) and mobile phones, especially in medicine, where mobile data acquisition, processing and visualization is required.

Six years ago, the Latvian company Integris Ltd, a specialist in the development of mobile wireless telemedicine ECG recording devices, came up with the concept of an inexpensive, real-time heart activity monitor for personal use. Initially, the wireless technologies available were not a practical option for the device Integris had in mind, but when hybrid chips came on the market, the EUREKA project E! 3489 HEART GUARD was born. They developed an inexpensive, real-time heart activity monitor for personal use. The device is small enough to be worn continuously and can monitor both heart activity and the patient's physical activity and alerts the patient of abnormalities. The HEART GUARD system comprises a lightweight, simple to use, matchbox-size device with five electrodes that are strategically placed on the wearer's chest. The wireless device transmits data in real time directly to the patient's pocket computer or to a desktop PC for instant interpretation by the system's unique software. The low-cost device is discreet enough to be worn 24 hours a day, recording, analysing and reporting not only the rhythm and electrical activity of a patient's heart but also his physical activity and body positions, as he goes about his daily life. Currently Heart Guard is being developed for home use only.

Clinical trials of the prototype have been successfully concluded by the Kaunas Medical University’s Institute of Cardiology, the Lithuania Academy of Physical Education and the Research Institute of Cardiology at the University of Latvia within the framework of the EUREKA project. The next steps are to satisfy the EU’s strict compliance requirements for medical devices and then source a company to manufacture and distribute the system. It is hoped that the first commercial Heart Guard devices will appear on the market and save millions of lives by the end of 2008 or early 2009.

Now is the time to establish strong partnerships for project proposals for the 3rd Health Call - and why not invite a small, but innovative Latvian SME to join a consortium? Visit their webpage at http://www.integris.lv or contact them by e-mail: info@integris.lv

Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI): Outcome of the first stage of Call 1

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The first call for Expressions of Interest (EoI) launched by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in April 2008 was met with high response from the European research community: 138 Expressions of interest were submitted for 18 Topics, addressing 3 of the 4 IMI “pillars”, namely Safety, Efficacy, and Education and Training. According to the IMI Joint Undertaking, all topics have been adequately covered by the EoIs received, rendering the first stage of the first IMI Call with a budget of around 294 Mio Euro a success. Altogether, more than 1200 Teams were involved in the EoIs, 17 % thereof stemming from SMEs, 77 % from academic institutions, and the remaining percentages consisting of patient organisations, regulatory agencies, industry associations and large “non-EFPIA” companies.

All EU Member states except Malta were represented in the EoIs, with the highest number of participants coming from the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. EU Associated Countries (Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey) and 3 Third Countries (Australia, Russia, USA) were represented as well.

For the successful “applicant consortia” the time has now come to get together with their counterparts from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) in order to jointly write a full proposal for the second stage, and to agree on the handling of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by the end of November 2008. The first projects within IMI are expected to start early 2009.

For more information, see: http://www.imi-europe.org

Presentations of the SMEs go Health Information and Training Workshop at EuroBiO in Paris now available online

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs go Health held its 3rd successful Information and Training Workshop in Paris, France, on 7 October 2008. The event took place at the occasion of EuroBiO – THE life sciences event of the EU French presidency.
This fully booked training day attracted 120 European and international representatives of academia, SMEs and other institutions, ranging from "FP7 newcomers" to experienced proposal writers.
The audience was rewarded with an excellent one-day’s programme fully packed of high-quality information and first-hand-tips provided by the European Commission and other experts in the field.
The presentations offered a broad overview on the 7th Framework Programme and the Health theme as they contained information on successful proposal preparation, evaluation procedures, success stories and specific knowledge of upcoming initiatives in the area of Health to name but a few.

The presentations of the training day can be downloaded by clicking the links below (note that some files are large and may take some time to download):

EuroBiO: Introduction to the 7th EU-Framework Programme (Pre-Workshop Session)
Stéphane Hogan, Head of Unit Horizontal Aspects and Coordination, European Commission
The 7th EU-Framework Programme with the focus on "Health"
Ludovica Serafini, Scientific Officer Horizontal Aspects and Coordination, European Commission
SMEs go Health: a support action to participate in FP7 Health projects
Ágnes Szmolenszky, HSTF, Hungary
Success Story: benefits and challenges of participating in an EU funded project presented by a coordinator
Emmanuel Bois, CEZANNE, France
Life cycle of an FP7 project: from the idea to a successful project
Martijn de Jager, SenterNovem, Netherlands
Experiences of an FP7 project evaluator: critical points of a project - Dos and Don’ts in a proposal
Gérard Brugal, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France
Financial aspects & funding schemes: Tips for your cost planning
Martin Baumgartner, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Austria

New in FP 7 projects: Speed up the application and negotiation process by using the Participant Identification Code

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Unique Registration Facility (URF) is a new service of the European Commission that will allow FP 7 participants to register and submit their legal- and financial data in order to facilitate and speed up the handling of documents and possible contract negotiations.

All organisations participating in FP7 will be assigned a Participant Identification Code (PIC). The Participant Identification Code is a 9 digits unique identifier for every validated legal entity. Participants will not have to submit their legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time they submit a proposal or negotiate a grant agreement, but just their PIC.

The organisations that already have signed an FP 7 grant agreement have already been assigned a PIC. Organisations without a signed FP 7 grant agreement may obtain a PIC by registering in the Unique Registration Facility. The PIC can then be used for proposal submission – there will be a field available in the Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) and Negotiation Form (NEF) where the PIC can be entered.

In addition, a legal signatory of each legal entity will be asked by the Commission to appoint one person (the so-called LEAR – Legal Entity Appointed Representative) for being the correspondent towards the Commission on all issues related to the legal status of the entity.

What are the advantages for participants using a PIC?

• Participants will not have to submit their legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time in preparation of a new grant agreement with the DGs for research, but just their PIC
• Participants will be able to see, at any moment in time, what are the legal and financial data that the Commission holds about them; they will be able to propose changes if their records are not correct or up-to-date; any new transactions will automatically take the changes into account, which will reduce administrative workload
• The central validation team in the Commission will establish a privileged relationship with the Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR), which will alleviate administrative and scientific personnel from the task of repeatedly providing legal and financial information and related supporting documents.

Register your organisation to the URF database here or read more about the service here

Help us improve our services - Your feed-back on the VBE is important !

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As a researcher you can benefit from the Health research virtual community and SMES go Health experts' support. We would highly appreciate your feedback on the Virtual Brokerage Event in order to further improve this service.

A questionnaire has been put on line at at http://www.ffg.at/buk/healthsurvey2008 to assess your needs.

By kindly completing this questionnaire (requiring maximum 5 minutes) you could help us to assess the process and the results of the "SMEs go Health" Virtual Brokerage Event which took place between June 9th and 16th, 2008, and in the course of which 1.600 researchers were contacted.

The analysis of the questionnaire results will provide an important basis for the future activities of "SMEs go Health". Therefore, we would also be very grateful in case you would like to enter some comments in the optional fields as well. May we therefore invite you to complete this questionnaire before 21 July 2008 ?

Thank you very much in advance for your cooperation!

In case you have any questions on this survey, please contact
Dr. Ylva Huber
Tel: +43 5 77 55 4102, ylva.huber@ffg.at

Third call delay for FP7 health Theme; 3rd call publication expected on 3 September 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Commission announced that the expected schedule for the 3rd Call has been modified.

This delay is actually not specifically related to the Health Theme but related to agreeing budget figures with other Directorate Generals for the horizontal activities in the Cooperation programme (COST, CORDIS, ERA-NET etc). The Commission inter-services consultation has eventually been launched on Tuesday, 11 June 2008 - a month later than originally planned.

According to the new schedule all programmes within "Cooperation", the consultation of the Programme Committees is foreseen between 10 and 31 July 2008. The adoption iis planned for late August, with a call publication date shortly thereafter in September, most likely 3^rd of September 2008.

On the basis of a publication on 3 September 2008, the Commission envisages a deadline for submission at around 3 December 2008, to be confirmed when the calls are published.

Further detailed information on FP7 Heatlh theme - 3rd Call is available at http://www.smesgohealth.org/media/documents/3rd_call-opportunities_conditions.pdf

A VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT has been organised between 9 June and 13 June 2008 on www.smesgohealth.org

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT (VBE) was designed to help identify research interests in the Health area at the European level and maximise the involvement of SMEs and academic organisations in research projects in the field of Health/Life Sciences of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7).

To this end, all 29 partners of the "SMEs go Health" network have collected and selected relevant partner searches and profiles from researchers and Health companies in their own countries.

The classification of the partner searches and profiles is done according to the draft topics which will be open for submission in Call 3 but can also be searched upon any keyword.

Experts from “SMEs go Health” supported their national candidates to match profiles and contacted potential partners among more than 1.600 profiles collected up to now in 35 countries.

In particular, the network perfored an intensive “matching” process and assisted each company and academic researcher from the database to find relevant partners.

As a result 159 new profiles were registered and 35 new Partner Searches have been entered in the database online during the Virtual brokerage event period.

You can access yourselves the profiles and partner searches which are accessible in the SGH database at: www.smesgohealth.org/common/ContactsLogin.asp

The “SMEs go Health” network was created in order to assist SMEs and academia in their European R&D strategy and successful participation in FP7 and the VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT is an important means
to achieving that aim.

The 3^rdFP7 call in Health will probably be published on 3^rd September 2008 with the first deadline for submission of applications on 3^rd December 2008.

Your national SMEs go Health contact person will inform you about the deadlines as soon as they are publicly available.

Kick-off for the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI): Governing Board and First IMI Call

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

OPEN CALLS & PARTNER SEARCHES

The first IMI Call with a budget of around € 295 million is now published.

You can find the necessary documents for the first IMI call ready to download
under:
http://imi.europa.eu/calls-01_en.html

IMI Guide for Applicants with application forms
IMI 1st Call Topics
IMI Rules for Participation
IMI Rules for Submission, evaluation and selection of EoIs and
proposals
IMI Evaluation form Stage 1
IMI IPR Rules

Background Information:

On April 30^th 2008, an information event has been held in Brussels, providing details on the IMI scientific priorities and application procedures, as well as networking opportunities for potential IMI stakeholders, particularly the public sector, the European pharmaceutical industry, biopharmaceutical SMEs and patient groups.

The Governing Board is composed by 5 representatives each of the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Jonathan Knowles (EFPIA) was elected Chair of the Governing Board, whereas Alain Vanvossel from the European Commission was appointed Interim Executive Director of the IMI JU.
The unique cooperation between the European Commission and EFPIA within the Innovative Medicines Initiative aims to overcome European bottlenecks in the develop-ment of new medicines and therapies, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the European Pharmaceutical Industries. IMI will mobilise € 2 billion in research funds, with € 1 billion stemming from the 7^th EU Framework Programme (FP7, Theme "Health") and € 1 billion being contributed in-kind from the EFPIA member companies.

The presentations of the event will be published shortly!

DEA - Partners with humanistic and social scientific background

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Looking for partners with a humanistic and social scientific background?

The Danish Business Research Academy (DEA) is the coordinator of a EU-funded project. DEA is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation. The primary goal of the project is to facilitate the creation of consortiums of researchers and enterprises and integrate them into interdisciplinary research working groups. The aim is to have the broadest skill-base for business research when applying to calls for proposal under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Background
To a still larger extent the European Commission stresses the importance of inter-disciplinary research projects. Especially, the dimension of the social sciences and humanities has attracted attention and can be important in the evaluation of a project. For instance, the following areas within the social sciences and the humanities are often important sub points in the evaluation of project within health:

• The socio-economic of a research results
• The regulatory and ethical aspects of research
• Quality, efficiency and solidarity of healthcare
• Dissemination of research results to the press and the public
• How to translate research results into policy
• User friendly technology
• The engagement of civil society

A good application within the health-programme can ultimately be rejected, if the above aspects are not taken into consideration. Trans-disciplinary collaboration between all stakeholders should ensure that due consideration is taken of the ethical and societal dimensions of the project proprosals.

Advantages of DEA’s EU-project
The EU-network offers SMEs and technical and scientific researchers contacts to a wide range of social scientific and humanistic researchers within the above mentioned areas.

Furthermore, the project will cover the following activities:
• start up activities relevant to the project partners, facilitate the job of working groups and hence ease the creation of research consortiums
• arranging international conferences with aim of networking between the different researchers and companies
• monitoring and informing researchers, enterprises and policy-makers about the development of the 7th Framework Programme

Contact information
DEA’s EU-project will probably be interesting for you, if your SME or research institution already takes part in EU research or you are thinking of applying for calls within FP7. Please feel free to contact DEA’s EU advisor for more information about the project and the relevance to you.
Ms Nanna Rosenfeldt
EU advisor
The Danish Business Research Academy, DEA
Tel. +45 3342 6609 / +45 6066 6252
E-mail: nr@dea.nu

New Commission Recommendation on the management of IP

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

On 10 April 2008, the European Commission adopted a new Recommendation on the management of intellectual property (IP) in the knowledge transfer activities of universities and other public research organisations.

The specific objectives of the Recommendation are to assist Member States in the development of policies and guidelines in the area of intellectual property management and knowledge transfer activities and to promote the exploitation of publicly-funded research results.

In many cases this will entail public research organisations and private enterprise working more closely together, for example in academia-industry collaborations.

The Recommendation also outlines a Code of Practice which Member States and academic institutions could use as a basis for introducing or adapting national guidelines and legislation concerning the management of intellectual property or knowledge transfer. The Code of Practice consists of three main sets of principles; principles for an internal intellectual property policy; principles for a knowledge transfer policy; and principles for collaborative and contract research.

Full text (in EN, FR, DE) can be found on:

http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/ip_recommendation_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/ip_recommendation_fr.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/ip_recommendation_de.pdf

Presentations of the SMEs go Health Information and Training Workshop in Berlin now available on line

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs go Health held a successful Information and Training Workshop in Berlin, Germany, on 10 March 2008.

This fully booked training day attracted participants from several European countries as representatives of SMEs, academia and other research organisations gathered to benefit from high-quality training provided by the European Commission officials and other experts in the field.

The presentations offered a broad view to the 7th Framework Programme participation as they contained information on successful proposal preparation, evaluation procedures, success stories and specific knowledge of upcoming initiatives in the area of Health to name but a few.

The presentations of the training day can be downloaded by clicking the links below (note that some files are large and may take some time to download):

The 7th EU Framework Programme and research areas in Health
Ludovica Serafini, European Commission
Risk Sharing Finance Facility
Ludovica Serafini, European Commission
SMEs go Health: A support action for FP7 Health projects
Sandra Habegger, Euresearch, Switzerland
Innovative Medicines Initiative - a European Technology Platform
Ludovica Serafini, European Commission
Life cycle of an FP7 project: From the idea to a successful project
Martina Kedrova, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Slovakia
Success story: Experiences of coordinating an EU-funded project
Dr. Hassan Jomaa, University of Giessen, Germany
Experiences of an FP7 project Evaluator: A look from the other side
Joseph Rosenecker, University of Munich, Germany
Financial aspects & funding schemes: Tips for your cost planning
Martin Baumgartner, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Austria
Dos and Don’ts in a proposal
Ylva Huber, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Austria

Testimony of Prof Vincent Geenen, Euro-Thymaide Project Coordinator, Liege University Center of Immunology.

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Prof Vincent Geenen, you are coordinator of the FP6 Integrated Project called Euro-Thymaide. Why this project, which started in January 2004 with duration of 5 years, needed to include so many partners (25 partners from 12 countries) in the Consortium?

V.Geenen:

"Autoimmune diseases represent a significant burden for the quality of life and health insurance cost. Despite intense research efforts, the mechanisms underlying the development of autoimmune diseases are still largely obscure. This obvious ignorance explains why the current treatment of these chronic diseases remains inadequate and is associated with severe side effects. The Euro-Thymaide approach is mainly based on the major physiological function of the thymus, i.e. to ensure self-tolerance of a diverse repertoire of T-cell receptors, as well as generation of self-antigen specific regulatory T cells.

The main novelty of Euro-Thymaide approach is a coherent and integrated research effort focused on the central organ responsible for the establishment of self-tolerance, which is a cornerstone of immune physiology together with diversity, specificity, and memory.

Euro-Thymaide had a large ambition by regrouping the leader research groups in Europe including 20 academic research centres and 5 biotech SMEs.

There are other research networks that investigate the pathways leading to immunological self-tolerance, but Euro-Thymaide is the first one that is entirely dedicated to research on thymus-dependent (central) self-tolerance."

It is commonly said that coordinating such a large project is not easy. How did you manage to efficiently integrate these different organisations and how did you smoothly maintained a control on these ambitious objectives?

V.Geenen

"To succeed, Euro-Thymaide needed researchers with different scientific and clinical backgrounds, and it had to wheedle them to cooperate. This ambitious and potentially risky project would examine ethically complex and unprecedented experimental trials. But Euro-Thymaide has also been a thorough managerial test. Few of the scientists running it had ever designed multi-site investigations before and many of them work in different cultural and working environment.

As most European integrated projects, Euro-Thymaide is organized in work packages with lead investigators for each WP. Moreover, five biotech SMEs are part of the consortium to assure the rapid exploitation of the scientific results or support technical advances for the research. The journey has not been always easy for the network, in particular to foster strong interactions among partners. After the first revision of the project by the European Commission, it was decided to reinforce integration among the work packages. This led to the implementation of
researchers trainings and exchange programmes among laboratories.

The ambitious project objectives require indeed the implementation of a joint program of activities, including exchange of personnel and services between research teams in order to provide a viable basis for focused research collaboration.

In order to elaborate new clinical approaches, an additional SME, ProImmune LTd , (UK) has been recruited by the project in 2006 after an international competitive call, to complete the design of defined multimers, which allow the detection of T cells specific for autoantigens. The network SMEs go Life Sciences (now SMEs go Health) including National Contact Points helped us matching our needs and addressing the European biopharmaceutical SMEs to find the right partner. "

The Euro-Thymaide project has met significant success and has deciphered important tolerogenic mechanisms that take place in the thymus. Is it important to keep this approach in the future calls of FP7?

V. Geenen

"Yes indeed, we have progressed quite fast with the support of the European Commission.

From January 2004, the research activities conducted in the FP6 Integrated Project Euro-Thymaide have provided a track record of novel knowledge (http://www.eurothymaide.org/common/ScientificPublication.asp) that demonstrates a crucial role for thymus-dependent self-tolerance in protection from autoimmunity.
A European database of thymus self-antigens is now available online (http://www.EDTSA.org).

More importantly, the Consortium has provided new clear evidence that a thymus dysfunction is a major initiating event in the development of organ-specific autoimmunity. These results are already paving the way for novel therapeutic approaches aiming at self-tolerance restoration and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Thanks to one dedicated work package, the intrathymic pathways leading to the generation of self-antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Treg) are elucidated, and we are now able to modulate the function of specific naturally occurring Treg through several molecular tools.

Therefore, it clearly appears that the integration of Euro-Thymaide research activities performed by European scientists has generated original and meaningful insights into our knowledge of the biological and genetic mechanisms at the basis of organ-specific autoimmune diseases.

For these reasons and its specific European touch, we are convinced that “Thymus, self-tolerance and autoimmunity” is a fundamental topic that should be maintained and listed in one of the future calls launched in the European Framework Programme 7. "

With your experience, what would be your 5 key recommendations for the coordinators of FP7 financed projects?

V. Geenen: "I would cleraly recommend the following:"

1. A clear definition of the research objective(s).
2. A high level of communication within and between work packages.
3. To delegate management responsibilities to specialists in this domain.
4. To support integration of biotech SMEs.
5. A good level of communication and confidence with the Scientific Officer of the European Commission.

Contact and Info:

Vincent GEENEN MD, PhD — FNRS Research Director
Institute of Pathology CHU-B23
Liege University Center of Immunology
B-4000 Liege — Sart Tilman / Belgium
Tél.: 32 43 66 25 50 - Fax: 32 43 66 98 59
vgeenen@ulg.ac.be
www.eurothymaide.org

The Commission publishes the proceedings of the Workshop "SMEs in Health, opportunities during and after participation in EU funded projects"

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This publication has been developed by Commission Services to assist participants of EU-funded Health research projects, in particular SMEs, in the valorisation of results and in the communication of project successes.

It is a practical guide providing information on existing support structures available in Europe (such as the European Medicine Agency's SME office) and on potential sources of financial support.

This publication has been produced thanks to the valuable assistance of the participants to the workshop "SMEs in Health Research, Opportunities during and after participation to EU funded projects". The workshop has been organized to support participants to our FP6 "SME call" (namely call FP6-2005-LIFESCIHEALTH-7), through which 86 projects have been funded for a total EU contribution of € 200 million, out of which about 40% is going to about 240 SMEs.

The invited experts ranged from representatives of financial institutions, European associations, EU funded support structures plus Commission officials either from the Health Directorate or other services and institutions.

Through this initiative, it intended to assist coordinators (and other participants) of SME driven projects for results valorization and in the communication of project successes, informing them of existing support structures available in Europe and possible sources of financial support.

The workshop objectives were to:

provide information on project management and on various support mechanisms available to SMEs for exploitation of results sharing the acquired knowledge with other project participants;
explore how the Commission services could improve the working relationship with SMEs;
initiate an exchange and discussion with SMEs and academia, representatives of the major European SME associations and other relevant stakeholders, on areas of research most suitable to SMEs for the further development of the new Framework Programme; foster debate on innovation and improvement in the exploitation of research results.

The Health Directorate published the workshop proceedings as a source of practical information and included the next contents:

1. WORKSHOP INTRODUCTION (INCLUDING SURVEY RESULTS)

The survey was sent to 86 coordinators of the SME-STREP Call; 50 of them responded. The suggestions for the workshop coverage were taken on board in the development of the programme.

2. FP6 ONGOING PROJECTS

This session was designed to provide the necessary information for a successful kick-off of funded projects; in particular it gives guidance on project management. This was complemented by a presentation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and communication to help project participants with successfully preparing the future valorisation of project results from the very beginning.

3. SUPPORT PROVIDED THROUGH OTHER INSTITUTIONS

This session included presentations by EU institutions or support structures not funded by DG RTD but which are relevant for SMEs. Presentations were made by the European Medicines Agency and the SME Office and the Innovation Relay Centres, funded by DG ENTR and included the example of the Medical Technology Thematic IRC group (MTTG).

4. EUROPEAN ASSOCIATIONS RELEVANT TO SMEs

In a “tour de table”, the main European associations, relevant to SMEs working in Healthcare in Europe, illustrated their potential service and explained main political objectives.

5. POSSIBLE SOURCES OF FINANCIAL SUPORT

It provides a short flash on possible sources of financial support, clarifying the role of different players and helping companies to understand the complex investment market reality. It included presentations from the European Investment Fund, the Biotech and Finance forum and the European Venture Capital Association. A short presentation on the Risk Sharing Finance Facility has been added to the proceedings, being relevant as another possible source of loan financing for large companies, Universities, but also to SMEs, through a programme co funded by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank.

6. THE FUTURE: FP7

This session was designed to provide insight on FP7, with focus on the Health Theme and Calls. It also illustrated the support structures tailored to encourage health researchers to participate in FP7 proposals and some examples of the support actions designed for the valorisation of health funded projects’ results.

7. OPENING THE DEBATE ON HOW TO STRENGTHEN INDUSTRY-GOVERNMENT-ACADEMIC-ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERSHIPS

Leonard Lerer, Senior Research Programme Manager at the INSEAD Healthcare Management Initiative, was one of the workshop participants. He provided the included contribution to the proceedings to stir up debate and reflection on Life Science Technology Transfer. INSEAD is one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, aiming at developing responsible, thoughtful leaders and entrepreneurs who create value for their organisations and their communities. Through its research, INSEAD aims to expand the frontiers of academic thought and influence business practice.

Link to the whole document: ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/sme-health-proceedings_en_pdf.zip

Interview with an FP7 evaluator

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For ethical issues and following his request, the real name of the FP7-HEALTH evaluator will not be mentioned and during the whole interview will be addressed as Dr John Smith.

Dr John Smith, with a background in Chemical Engineering and Economics and extensive research experience in Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Energy industries in the United States, shared with us his experience as an FP7-HEALTH evaluator, providing his personal insight into the FP evaluation procedure and valuable tips on how to submit a good FP7 proposal.

When and why did you become an evaluator of the EU Framework Programme?
In 2001 and after an extended research and consultation career in the United States, I returned to Europe for personal reasons. Because of my background, I was immediately involved in the FP6 as a researcher, consultant and soon after as an evaluator. As an evaluator I consider that I am able to offer a different approach due to my industrial background and my diverse education and work experience in the United States. I also had much to gain, by understanding the research priorities of the EU and by being exposed to new research ideas and thinking approaches.
Following the EU’s call for candidatures, I registered my Curriculum Vitae in a Framework Programme (FP) experts’ database on the CORDIS website of the EU.

Could you explain in simple terms the evaluation procedure?
The evaluation procedure is clearly described on CORDIS. But before explaining it, I should mention that I have participated in two types of evaluations: the evaluation of FP proposals and the evaluation (monitoring and revision) of ongoing research programmes.
In the evaluation of FP proposals, the EU administration conducts a preliminary check on the eligibility of the proposals according to the description of the call (if proposal arrived before the deadline, if the criteria for a minimum partnership are satisfied, if all the forms are submitted etc.). Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the proposal cannot be evaluated.
Depending on the number of proposals, the type of proposals and the topics, the relevant EU officer decides and selects the evaluators needed. Each expert is provided with general evaluation principles, the details of the evaluation procedure and the proposals. The expert has to sign a form that guarantees his/her independency and declares no conflict of interest with the proposals to be evaluated.
Then the individual evaluation, that can be remote or on location, starts. The experts first assess whether a proposal is within the scope of the call. This is a pass-fail criterion. After that, the evaluators have to decide on three criteria: Scientific and or technological Excellence, Quality and efficiency of management and the consortium, and Impact and dissemination. In order for the proposal to be eligible for funding it has to pass the threshold on all three criteria and the overall threshold. In addition, gender and ethical issues have to be addressed and recommendations made if appropriate.

The expert has to provide a written evaluation report (Individual Assessment Report or IAR) for each proposal where he provides full justification of his marks and a series of suggestions on how the proposal can be improved. Indeed, the IAR includes a total score, overall comments detailing strengths and weakness, a recommendation whether or not the proposal should be funded (each threshold and final threshold should be reached) and an evaluation of the requested grant in relation to the work plan (whether realistic or overestimated).
Subsequently, a consensus meeting takes place in Brussels where a panel of experts (from three to ten in my experience) that have previously evaluated the specific proposals discuss, justify and have to reach a consensus on each individually evaluated criterion. They also prepare a consensus report for each proposal that has to be signed by all the experts of the panel. A moderator is present to aid the debate and provide additional information when needed. The entire process is supervised by independent inspectors that can enter the evaluation room as observers. The proposals that pass all the thresholds have to be ranked.
Depending on the evaluation process, a panel meeting may take place in order to assess and compare the consensus reports of the proposals which exceed the thresholds and may include a hearing with the proposers on specific issues and establish a ranking list in the case of similar total scores.
After the evaluation process, the Commission prepares the list of the proposals that have reached all thresholds, the list of proposals for which the negotiation process can start (taking into account the available total funding for the given panel), the reserve list (in case of negotiation failure from either side) and the list of rejected proposals (scoring below one or more thresholds). Finally, the coordinator of each proposal receives the Evaluation Summary Report. It reflects the consensus reached between the independent experts as well as the panel results on each main criteria and it provides overall comments and a final score for the proposal.
The evaluation process for FP proposals in addition to ranking the proposals for funding, provides binding recommendations to the EU officer for the negotiation of the contract. For example, the evaluation panel can suggest a specific reduction in the budget of the project, implementation of contingency plans etc. The evaluation report is also very important for proposals that did not pass the threshold, since it provides concrete suggestions on how to improve the proposal in case of re-submission.
The evaluation of the ongoing projects has a different scope. Here the officer assigns to several experts the monitoring and revision of the periodic reports. The work document (Technical annex of the contract) and the progress report (with the project deliverables) are provided to the evaluators that have signed a secrecy agreement and a non-conflict declaration. The evaluators have to judge the progress of the project: whether it is on schedule, if the milestones have been met, the quality of the deliverables, problems and contingency actions, the use of resources etc. They have to provide suggestions and recommendations that are binding for the consortium. A detailed consent report between the evaluators involved is written and sent to the EU officer in Brussels.

What has been your experience so far?
The first time, in 2003, they contacted me to evaluate proposals on a topic of the FP6-TP1 (LifeSciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health) call. I communicated with the EU officer in charge and discussed with him his expectations before accepting the assignment. It is important for the EU officer to know what you can offer and for the evaluator to understand how to approach the evaluation.

My first evaluation was a remote one. I received several proposals and a set of instructions pertaining to the evaluation process and to the particular call. Based on these guidelines I had to write my detailed assessment of the proposals and send it to Brussels. The remoteness of the process made the evaluation more difficult.
Later on, I participated in the evaluations of proposals on site. In some cases, the proposals were sent to me beforehand in order to perform my assessment and be prepared in advance for the discussion that was to take place in Brussels, whereas in other cases the proposals were provided in Brussels where I had a limited time to read them and take notes before the discussion with other experts (consensus meeting) took place. As part of my FP evaluation experience, I was invited to several consensus meetings (the last one related to the FP7-HEALTH-A call) where the evaluation was performed by small panels of three to ten evaluators that met in a room with a moderator who just supervised the process and provided aid if needed. The results of the remote evaluation were presented to the panel as an additional element in the evaluation process. Each evaluator brought different points to the discussion that, through a thorough debate, reached the consensus result. The value of the debate in decision making is fully exploited by this process in which all the evaluators are experienced and competent to prevent a group mentality.
Personally, I prefer the on-site evaluation. In addition to having a more direct impact on the final evaluation decision, it allows a direct contact with other evaluators and with EU officials. It also offers insights into EU research trends, exposure to new ideas and new professional contacts.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an FP evaluator? How would you improve the FP evaluation procedure?
I already mentioned some of the main advantages of being an evaluator: global view of research, enriching exchange of ideas with top scientists in Europe, to be updated on the latest innovative ideas of top research consortia in Europe, to have an insight into the evaluation process and to understand and contribute to the EU research priorities. It also provides a first hand experience on how to write successful proposals. However, to perform an honest and helpful task, the FP evaluation is an extremely hard and sometimes difficult work. It could be exhausting to read carefully several hundred pages of research proposals describing complex processes within the limited time provided by the EC. It is easy to pass a good proposal and cut a bad one but the difficulty comes from ranking the proposals that are in the cut-off point in the case of limited funds. It is also very difficult and time consuming to formulate constructive suggestions for a promising proposal that needs further work.

The whole FP evaluation procedure is quite objective and difficult to manipulate since it is the result of a consensus reached by numerous individuals. The experts are established professionals. In addition, during the whole procedure relevant weight is given to objectivity, to the confidential treatment of the information, the experts’ independency, the avoidance of conflict of interest between evaluators and the FP-proposals to be evaluated. Finally, the whole process is followed by independent observers and the list of evaluators is published at the end of each FP. However, it is my opinion that the evaluation procedure could be improved by providing more evaluation time per proposal or by reducing the proposal length.

In your opinion, what is required to become a good FP7 evaluator?
Despite the fact that my professional training was in evaluating research projects for funding by the private sector, my first experience with the FP evaluation was extremely time-consuming. After several FP-evaluations, I learned to identify more quickly the relevant information that needs to be judged and checked. However, although evaluation experience is extremely important, a good FP-evaluator also needs to be reliable/honest, objective, open minded (avoid preconceived ideas), cautious, thorough and practical. He has to understand very clearly what is expected from him. The expert should have the courage to admit that he is not competent to evaluate a given proposal or some aspect(s) of that proposal. In that sense, a good EU officer combines different expertise and professional experiences in the same evaluation panel and a good evaluator has to remain open to those experts that may be more experienced in certain evaluation criteria of the proposals at hand. The expert should be at the forefront of S&T developments and he should understand very clearly the EU’s broader research priorities and the priorities of the specific call. First hand experience in project coordination and administration is important particularly in the evaluation of ongoing projects. Finally, it is important to have written FP proposals in order to appreciate and understand the importance of the task, to respect the effort of the proposers and to provide them with a useful, valuable and constructive feedback to their work.

Finally, could you provide us with some tips on how to write a good FP7 proposal?
There are several key points for a good proposal.
First of all read the call carefully. All the requirements of the call should be satisfied: relevance of the topic and work, consortium composition, complete documents and on-time submission. If these requirements are not fulfilled the proposal is not going to be evaluated and you will have wasted your time and effort.
Before writing the proposal read on the CORDIS website all the available documents related to the call and topic as well as the guide for evaluators. This will give you a good idea on how your proposal is going to be evaluated and could be used as a guideline during the writing-up.
Do not forget to communicate with a good, clear and concise abstract since it is the first contact that the evaluator has with your proposal.
A well written project is extremely important. Write simply and clearly. Consider that the evaluator may not be a top expert in the subject and, despite this fact, needs to understand the importance of and the reasons behind the research that you propose to undertake. In addition, experts have limited time to read hundreds of pages of proposals, so please avoid long paragraphs and use self explanatory tables, diagrams, figure, pictures, schemes whenever possible.

In my opinion, the most important parts of the proposal are:

The relevance to the call and the scientific soundness of the proposed work. It is very important to fully address the topic of the call and to have an innovative and clear idea. An elaborated work plan with well focused and defined tasks should be presented, broken down into work packages (WPs) which should follow the logical phases of the implementation of the project.
The impact of the work: Describe how the proposed project and specifically the deliverables will contribute to the objectives of the call/specific topic listed in the work programme and the overall objectives of ERA (European Research Area). Show how the proposed project will enhance the state-of the-art and will have a significant impact in the European/International economy and in the society (if applicable). Take adequate measures in order to efficiently disseminate and exploit the results of the project.

Other important points are:

Complementarity, the European dimension and documented expertise of the consortium. Clearly describe the critical mass (with complementary expertise, resources and capabilities) required at EU level to achieve the objectives of the project and the key benefits of working together in this consortium. Show that all partners are necessary and how they are suited and are committed to their tasks. Quality of the R&D groups should be clearly documented in the proposal by only providing background that is relevant to the proposal. Do not forget to include in the consortium end-users and SMEs that have a decisive role in the exploitation and dissemination of results.
The management structure and experience. The bigger the project and the budget, the more important is the management of the proposal and particularly the technical management. In that case, describe a clear and practical management plan that will facilitate the accomplishment of the research objectives and communication between all partners. Establish experienced governance bodies and clear decision-making structures and select coordinators (technical and administrative coordinators) and a management team with previous managerial experience. Do not forget to provide a satisfactory plan for the knowledge and intellectual property rights (IPR) management (financial & IPR issues should be agreed upfront by all partners).
Resources utilisation. Provide an adequate plan for the management utilisation of resources (personnel/skills, budget, equipment) that should be consistent with the deliverables of the proposal.

And finally, do not forget to submit ALL ELEMENTS ON TIME!!!!

7th Award for Communication in Life Sciences

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) invites entries for its 7^th Award for Communication in the Life Sciences.

The Award is presented annually to a practising life scientist in Europe who has made an outstanding contribution to the communication of science for the public.

It consists of a personal award of 5,000 Euro and a silver and gold medal.

Entries are accepted as self-applications, or as nominations by a
third-party, and must be submitted by 1 May 2008.

The conditions and application/nomination forms are available at:
http://www.embo.org/awards/communications.html

Last year's winners were Christian Sardet and Ali Saib from France.

For moreinformation please see:
http://www.embo.org/awards/communication_award07_en.pdf

Innovative Medicines Initiative: 6 Research Areas for the First Call

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is taking shape: about twenty topics belonging to six thematic areas available for funding in the first IMI call will be informally presented at the next “IMI Member States Contact Group Meeting” in Brussels on November 27th, 2007. The official publication of the call is expected for January 2008. It will be a two-stage call, the deadline of the first stage being envisioned for April 2008.

As presented by the European Commission at the “IMI National Platform Day” in Madrid on October 10th, 2007, the 20 topics of the first call will be derived from the following 6 thematic areas:

1. Translational biomarkers for brain disorders
2. Islet cell function and vascular complications of diabetes
3. Predictive toxicology
4. COPD and asthma
5. Pharmacovigilance
6. Education and training in various disciplines

With the aim to reduce bottlenecks and weaknesses in the development of new drugs and therapies, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the European pharma-industry, IMI was established as a Technology Platform by the European Commission (DG Research) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries (EFPIA) in 2004.

IMI regroups the main actors of the pharmaceutical and medical sector in Europe (research organisations, universities, enterprises, patient organisations, regulators, and others). IMI issued a “Strategic Research Agenda” (SRA) in order to develop the vision of the group on the future of the European Research in these sectors. Key objectives of IMI are supporting the accelerated discovery and development of better drugs and therapies by funding research projects in the pre-competitive area. These projects will address the main bottlenecks in the drug development process:

- Improve prediction of the Safety and Efficacy of new drug candidates
- Develop joint Knowledge Management systems
- Ensure a more skilled workforce in Europe to bridge the Training gaps

Subject to the approval of the European Council and the Consultation of the European Parliament, the IMI Technology Platform is expected to be converted into a Public-Private-Partnership, the “IMI Joint Undertaking” (JU), at the end of 2007. The IMI JU will fund calls for pre-competitive research projects based on the key thematic areas identified in the Strategic Research Agenda. Altogether, a € 2 billion budget is foreseen for IMI for 7 years, which will be provided in equal parts by the Commission (1 billion cash) and the EFPIA (largely in-kind contributions).

You can find further information, including the Strategic Research Agenda, at: www.imi-europe.org/

Czech Experience from the 1st Call, Priority Health, FP7

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Czech team of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic, submitted a project proposal to the FP7 topic in the first HEALTH Call “2007 – 1.3.5: In silico modelling for ADMET outcomes”. Unfortunately, the consortium of 10 members with a coordinator from Finland did not succeed in the evaluation procedure.

The head of the Czech team, Prof. Pavel Anzenbacher kindly answered our questions regarding the identification of possible reasons for not getting funded. He also gave some recommendations for other submitters of how to be able to turn an unsuccessful proposal into a lesson and enhance the future chances of success. He pointed out the six most important issues to be taken into account during the proposal preparation phase:

1. Omission or insufficient explanation of ethical issues. The proposal should create a feeling that the ethical issues are covered by written approval or documents which are in accordance with the legislation in the country of origin and are not discordant with approaches enforced by the EC. This is valid for both proposals dealing with humans and with materials of human origin as well as for experiments using animal models or animal tissues.

2. Authors are not able to convince the reviewer of their scientific competence. Although the proposal was rich in brilliant scientific ideas, the participants could not convincingly show that they would be able to implement these ideas (by their publications and previous activities). Less words, more relevant references - this is what counts.

3. In planning of activities as well as of the budget, submitters should not forget to include the dissemination by all possible means. Referees and EC loves it.

4. Submitters should try to persuade the reviewers that the consortium is able to cover all or almost all topics included in the respective theme. This may be hard, but gathering the right partners that are able to do this will open doors.

5. Management of the project is at least as important as the scientific idea. Creating a team with at least some experience in managing larger project(s), even non-scientific co-workers, will prove helpful.

6. Documentation proving that the partners are able to work as a team, preferably with some common publications or activities already before the project, is a good plus. If not, the complementarity of the approaches of the partners should be stressed.

Prof. Pavel Anzenbacher
Institute of Pharmacology - Faculty of Medicine,
Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic

The ERA-Net EUROTRANS-BIO's 3rd Transnational Call is open- Deadline: 15 February, 2008

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

EUROTRANS-BIO gathers biotechnology R&D funding programmes from 9 countries/regions: Austria, Basque Country (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain.

EUROTRANS-BIO’s objective is to foster economic and academic biotech players in sharing risks, costs and skills related to innovation in order to develop new products, technologies or supply services that could reach the market more efficiently.

In the two first calls (2006 & 2007), EUROTRANS-BIO received 125 pre-proposals and 41 were successfully evaluated and recommended for funding. Selected projects cover various fields of economic interest (health, agro/food and environment). The total cost of supported projects is 69 M€.

The 3rd call for international projects has been launched on November 9th 2007.

Topic
The ETB call 2007 is a generic call including all fields of biotechnology: red, green, grey/white and blue biotechnology.
Supported projects follow a bottom-up approach.

Who can apply?
EUROTRANS-BIO is dedicated to support SMEs and their academic partners.
Consortia consisting of at least two SMEs from two different participating countries can apply for EUROTRANS-BIO funding (Austria, Basque Country (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Finland, France, Germany, Italy*, The Netherlands* and Spain). SMEs forming a consortium can include large companies on a case-by-case basis, academic research groups and organisations which belong to their countries. Consortia can involve as many partners as necessary to achieve the projects goals. The coordinator of the consortium has to be a SME (European definition).

Application Procedure
The application process is two-phased. Pre-proposals and full-proposals are submitted electronically.

The deadline for submitting the pre-proposals is February 15th 2008. The results of the pre-proposal check are expected to be communicated to the applicants by early April. For those projects that pass the pre-proposal phase, the dead-line for full proposal submission is May 30th. The funding decisions are expected to be made in September 2008.

All the material is available on line www.eurotransbio.net.

EUROTRANS-BIO employs national resources. Each applicant is highly encouraged to contact his/her national contact to check national criteria before submission.

(*) Participation of The Netherlands and Italy is very probable but has to be formally confirmed.

contact : Marielle Mailhes
email : marielle.mailhes@oseo.fr
phone : +33 1 41 79 91 35

Announcement of the 4th International Greek Biotechnology Forum- IGBF 4- in Zappeio Megaro, Athens, Greece, to be held on 2 & 3 Feb. 08

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

IGBF is Greece’s top Biotechnology science and business event specially crafted to promote the leading edges of research. IGBF is the key point of reference for the advancement of Bio-Business and Bio-Sciences in the Balkans and aims this year to embrace the entire regions of Southeastern, CEE Europe and Middle East.

The past three fora were very successful in terms of attendance and scientific contribution while the careful choice of speakers and subjects guarantee the continuing success of previous years.
Biotechnology leaders involved in basic research, medicine, agronomics, environment, economy and business will give presentations and discuss their opinion with distinguished foreign and Greek speakers.

The spirit and aim of the congress are to stimulate the creation of new, feasible research programs and collaborations and to constitute a forum of ideas for new biotechnological applications that have brooded from the biomedical research.
Many have called the 21st century the "Century of Biology". Greece as a Country is trying reach the modern Biology developments, but a lot of steps remain in the sector of Biotechnology. Nevertheless, as a nation, Greece has enormous assets of intellectual and human resource both located in Greece or represented in the Greek scientific and business community disseminated all over the world.
Apart from its human potential and institutions, Greece, as member of the European Union has access to various resources which have not been completely exploited yet.

One of the aims of this congress is to help the integration of Greek basic and mainly applied bioscience into those of Europe and USA.

IGBF also features:
• EXPO of biomedical products and services
• Partnership meetings (B2B)
• Career Fair
• Laureate for Best Poster submitted
• Laureate for Best Business Plan submitted
• Painting Exhibition of Medical Doctors

contact : Dr. E. Bonoris
email : info@bionova.gr
phone : +30 210 8004910
fax : +30 210 8004913
more information : http://www.igbf.gr
Register online:

See all Open Partner Searches in Health theme at one glance!

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Find in one place all the partner searches that are currently open in the SMEs go Health database!

Look at the list without registration by going to http://www.smesgohealth.org/common/partnerssearches.asp

In order to get further details of the partner searches that interest you, go to > More information and log in to the service.

In case you are not registered yet, you can easily do it here.

SMEs go Health initiative received the Excellency Prize "Partner of Health System"

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

SMEs go Health initiative received the Excellency Prize "Partner of Health System" at the Policies and Business Mechanisms in the CEE Healthcare Industries event held in September in Romania!

The price was granted to the SMEs go Health project for perseverance and efficiency in supporting the researchers from the health domain to access European funding. The prize was awarded by a media group FORUMINVEST.

Ms Liliana Munteanu (on the left), the Vice-president of FORUMINVEST, handed over the diploma to Ms Flaviana Rotaru, Head of Funded Programs Department at FM Management Consultancy SRL, the Romanian partner of the "SMEs go Health" project.

How Ethical Review works in FP7

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Despite the recommendation from the Commission that, in FP7, every proposal should address ethical issues at the very submission (and not in a later stage like in FP6), a large number of proposals in the first and second Health calls did not include them. It is important to note that this is an eligibility criteria and that a proposal can be disregarded without further warning because the ethical issues are not included. If the scientific evaluators are concerned about the ethical aspects of a proposal, it may be submitted to an Ethical Review Panel.
We strongly advice to include an Ethical Review in all proposals, even if it obviously raises no ethical problem.

In order to help you in that difficult matter, besides your always-available-SMEs go Health-expert and your National Contact Point, some important information are available online. You should go through the well explained ethical checklist at: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html and include it in your proposal.

If your project includes ethically sensitive activities, two main questions should be answered in the Ethical Review:
• Are these activities necessary to achieve the scientific objectives set forth in the proposal? Is there no alternative?
• What will be the benefit/burden balance of the research project? i.e. the impact of this research not only regarding scientific advance but also in terms of Human dignity as well as social and cultural impact?

Ethical issues in FP7: The Importance of “getting it right the first time”

Despite frequent announcements by the European Commission that proposals submitted in FP7 need to thoroughly address ethical issues, a large number of proposals from the first Health call were found deficient in this respect. It is therefore important to bear in mind that the adequate coverage of ethical issues in a FP7 proposal constitutes an eligibility criterion - a proposal may be disregarded without further warning, solely because of insufficient treatment of ethical issues.

All proposals received by the Commission must describe the ethical, safety and socioeconomic issues raised by the research proposed and how they will be addressed so as to conform to national, European and international regulations.

The major changes from FP6 to FP7 in the context of ethical issues are:

The Ethics Review will be carried out on the proposal submitted
No additional information will be requested from the Consortium at a later stage
The Consortium is asked to submit drafts of Information Sheets and Consent Forms
The Consortium does not need to submit copies of legislation

Following a call for proposals, all applications submitted to the Commission are evaluated on their scientific merit. During this evaluation, the panel of scientists also makes a preliminary check of the ethical issues raised by a project and identifies any projects requiring special attention. This applies when projects raise sensitive ethical issues or when applicants fail to address ethical issues appropriately.

Following the evaluation, those proposals retained by the Commission with a view to funding, but identified by the experts as raising ethical issues, will be submitted to an Ethics Review panel. Ethics Review is automatic for proposals which include a research intervention on human beings, the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC), or the use of non human primates.

The European Commission provides guidance on addressing ethical issues for prospective applicants at the following website: http://cordis. europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html, including a document on “ethics for researchers” at ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/ethics-for-researchers.pdf

Research involving the use of human Embryonic Stem Cells

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Commission clearly stated that “All proposals for funding involving the use of human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESC) and/or foetal issues will be automatically submitted to an ethical review panel”.
At the evaluation step, once the scientific evaluators confirm the necessity of using hESC in the research proposal, the ethical review panel assesses:

That the proposal does not include research activities which destroys embryos
Whether the consortium has taken into account the legislation, regulations, ethical rules and/or codes of conduct in place in the country(ies) where the research using hESC is to take place, including the procedures for obtaining informed consent
The source of the hESC;
The measures taken to protect personal data, including genetic data, and privacy;
The nature of financial inducements, if any.

Each research proposal involving the use of hESC, which is supported within FP7, is assessed by at least two independent ethical reviews: one in the country(ies) itself where the research will be carried out and one at the EU level. A list of National Ethics Committees is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/european_group_ethics/link/index_en.htm#4

The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, a neutral, independent, pluralist and multidisciplinary body, composed of fifteen experts appointed by the Commission, suggested that, among others, the following considerations have to apply to hESC funded by the EU:

FP7 hESC lines have to result from non-implanted IVF embryos;
hESC lines banked in the European Registry should be used where possible;
If alternatives to hESC with the same scientific potential as embryo-derived stem cells will be found in the future, their use should be maximised;
Donors' rights (in terms of health, informed consent, data protection and free donation) have to be protected and safeguarded;
Actions to stimulate public debate on this research area are needed at EU level.

Open ERA-NET Call and updated Call list

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

CURRENTLY OPEN ERA-NET CALLS:

Genomics of human pathogenic microorganisms (PathoGenoMics) http://www.pathogenomics-era.net/index.php PathoGenoMics PhD Award, deadline 28.02.2008.

There are 11 ongoing ERA-NETs which relate to the Health Theme. In particular they target:

1. Ageing (ERA AGE) http://era-age.group.shef.ac.uk/

2. Health emergency (HESCULAEP) http://www.hesculaep.org/index.php

3. Organ donation and transplantation (ALLIANCE-O) http://www.alliance-o.org/

4. Genomics of human pathogenic microorganisms (PathoGenoMics) http://www.pathogenomics-era.net/index.php

5. System biology and genomics (ERA-SysBio) http://www.erasysbio.net

6. Guidelines on cancer best clinical practice (CoCanCPG) http://www.cocancpg.eu

7. Medicines for children (PRIOMEDCHILD)

8. Rare disease (E-RARE) http://www.e-rare.eu/cgi-bin/index.php

9. Neurosciences (NEURON) http://www.neuron-eranet.net/

10. New and emerging risks in occupational safety and health(NEW OSH ERA) http://www.newoshera.eu/

11. EUROTRANS-BIO: support trans-national R&D private/private and private/public co-operations (biotech sector) http://www.eurotransbio.net

Trans-regional Information and Training Workshop on the 7th EU-Framework Programme (FP7) in Riga

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

On September 13th, 2007 the first trans-regional Information and Training Workshop took place in Riga, Latvia – at the international Baltic Dynamics’07 conference.

The event was organised by the two European initiatives, SMEs go Health and Match2BioSMEs, whose networks consist of experienced partners from more than 27 European countries. Small and medium-sized enterprises, research institutes, universities, industry and associations, representatives of bio-clusters or bio-incubators, working in the field of Health and Biotechnology and interested in EU funding for research & technology development were attracted to attend the workshop. More than 60 participants from various countries registered for this one day and free of charge event.
After the opening of the day by Mrs. Diana Krievina, Latvian Technology Center and host of the workshop, Mrs. Liene Bigača, Latvian State agency "Public Health Agency", gave an overview on public health and knowledge based bio-economy in Latvia, Dr. Frank Heemskerk, RIMS, Belgium, subsequently introduced the 7th EU-Framework Programme and its funding opportunities, explained the main financial and legal rules of participation and emphasized the specific possibilities and support for SME and SME associations to participate in EU-funded research projects.

Mrs. Caterina Buonocore, APRE, Italy, showed the life cycle of an FP7 project, from the idea to the end of a successful project, explaining the writing process and negotiation phase. She pointed out how researchers can build a consortium and find partners with the help of different tools – like the SMEs go Health database and its matching facilities. The afternoon was divided into two parallel sessions where participants were encouraged to give their input: the first one led by SMEs go Health for the “Health” (red biotech) sector and the second led by Match2BioSMEs for the white and green biotech sectors.

To summarize, the workshop was not only a full success, but also a perfect opening for the Baltic Dynamics’07 conference which followed on September 14th-15th. This international conference attracted more than 400 participants from 35 countries.

SMEs go Health Information and Training Session at international conference "Baltic Dynamics'07", Riga, Latvia

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Information and Training Workshop on the 7^th EU-Framework Programme for Research and technological development will be organised by the SMEs go Health network on 13 September 2007 at the International conference “Baltic Dynamics’07”, Riga, Latvia

The aim of the 1^stInformation & Training Workshop was to provide comprehensive information and to train Health and Biotech SMEs, researchers, industry, associations, representative of Bio Clusters and Bio Incubators for successful participation into FP7 Programme projects.

The plenary session in the morning was dedicated to topics about funding opportunities of the 7^thEU-Framework programme, life cycle of an FP7 project, benefits and challenges of participation in EU-Framework programme – case studies of successfully participated SME and the coordinator of the research project, European Technology Platform-Innovative Medicine Initiative.

After theoretical part in the morning, participants have been trained on practical issues in 2 parallel sessions – Health and Biotechnology. Subjects focused on research areas in Health and BIO themes in FP7, processing of project proposal, financial issues and evaluation aspects.

The event was organized by two European initiatives “SMEsgoHealth” and “Match2BIOSME”, whose networks consist of experienced partners from more then 27 European countries.

Contact:
Mrs Diana Krievina
Latvian Technological Center (LTC)
Aizkraukles 21, LV-1006, Riga, LATVIA
Tel: +37/1/7558754
dianak@edi.lv

SMEs go Health offers an advanced Match Making service!

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In order to better serve your needs and speed up the process of finding potential project partners or initiators that exactly fit your objectives, SMEs Go Health has developed a new automatic function that screens the database of partner searches and profiles on your behalf.

All you need to do is to register your own profile and indicate which Call Topics you are interested in. After this, the system automatically generates for you a list of relevant partner searches based on the Call Topics. (Note: In case you do not choose any specific Call Topics that are of your interest, no Match Making will be done. If you decide to modify your profile and change the Call Topics later on, a new list will appear.).

When the list has been generated, you have a possibility to mark which partner searches/profiles are of interest to you, and directly contact the relevant ones just by one click of a mouse! The system provides an automatic email with reference to your profile and invites the other party to view it and get in touch with you in case collaboration could be possible. The service also allows you to keep track which organizations you have already contacted and when.

To access the Match Making service, we invite you to log in to the database if you have already registered. If you do not have a profile yet, please register here. It’s totally free!

Finding and contacting relevant partners interested in joint research projects for FP7 Health thematic could not be any easier!

A VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT has been organised between 25 June and 29 June 2007

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

This VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT (VBE) was designed to help identify research interests in the Health area at the European level and maximise the involvement of SMEs and academic organisations in research projects in the field of Health/Life Sciences of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7).

To this end, all 29 partners of the "SMEs go Health" network have collected and selected relevant partner searches and profiles from researchers and Health companies in their own countries. The classification of the partner searches and profiles was done according to topics open for submission in Call 2 but can also be searched upon any keyword.

Experts from “SMEs go Health” supported their national candidates to match profiles and contact potential partners among more than 1.100 profiles collected up to now in 35 countries.

In particular, the network performed during one week - from 25 June to 29 June 2007 - an intensive “matching” process: and assisted one by one each company and academic researcher from the database to find relevant partners.

The “SMEs go Health” network was created in order to assist SMEs and academia in their European R&D strategy and successful participation in FP7 and the VIRTUAL BROKERAGE EVENT is an important means
to achieving that aim.

The deadline for Call 2 was 18 September 2007 but all profiles and partner searches are still accessible in the SGH database at: www.smesgohealth.org/common/ContactsLogin.asp.

Lump sums for International Cooperation Partner Countries - a simpler approach for FP7 financing

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

On 4 June 2007 the Commission adopted a decision on the use of lump sum payments for International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC). This is one way in which the Commission has made the grant agreement process simpler for participants from these countries.

This decision enables the use of a flat rate lump sum amount to be used within grant agreements for indirect actions concluded under the Seventh Framework programme.

The Rules for Participation in FP7 included a provision for ICPC countries to opt for the Community financial contribution to take the form of a single lump sum payment. The lump sum covers all the costs of an ICPC participant including not only the costs for personnel and travel, but also those of equipment, consumables and indirect costs

If the participant chooses the lump sum option for financing, the maximum EC contribution is calculated on the basis of the economy of the ICPC, the number of persons-years requested for the project by the legal entity, the type of funding scheme of the project and the legal status and the activity type of the legal entity in the ICPC.

It is up to the individual participants to decide whether or not to opt for the lump sum system of payment. Alternatively ICPC participants may request the standard reimbursement of eligible costs.

For more information, check out the details in the "Guide to financial issues". (Art. II.18 ECGA of the DRAFT Guide to Financial Issues relating to FP7 Indirect Actions)

EFBIC RED: a bridge on red biotechnology between China and Europe

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

--> EFBIC can help you be involved in EU-China Collaboration networks.

EFBIC RED, European Focus on Biotechnology with China, is a Specific Support Action (SSA) co-funded under Framework programme 6, aiming to establish strategic relations with high-level decision-makers and scientists from Europe and China.

EFBIC RED action responds to the ever-growing scientific and commercial importance of China for the EU in the HEALTH field and to common interests for collaboration. Its focus is both on developing joint EU-China research and strategies and on encouraging the participation of Chinese scientists in EU Framework Programme research consortia.

In cooperation with science, industry and public interest organizations, EFBIC will work to encourage, develop and facilitate cooperative strategies and activities in research, innovation, commercial development and training.

The strategic objectives of the project are:

To promote and facilitate the participation of Chinese scientists in EU Framework Programme consortia and EU scientists in Chinese research programmes in relation to the current Health Theme of FP7 in close coordination with the European Commission;
To monitor and evaluate the HEALTH research policies of the EU and China and best cooperation practices between them, especially as they relate to the development of the EU FP7 and China's mid and long-term (10 to 20 year) strategy;
To review the current state of knowledge in the relevant science and technology of shared interest and define strategies for the application of this knowledge to selected objectives of common purpose;
To build on and extend the already-established research and development networks, offices and National Contact Points (NCPs) in the EU and China from an earlier phase of EFBIC for R&D cooperation.

The project will review and define strategies in HEALTH field and will strengthen scientific cooperation in the immediate and longer term between the EU and China. It will be carried out in close collaboration between the European Federation of Biotechnology Europe Unlimited, FFG, APRE and the CNCBD sponsored by MOST.

EFBIC RED consortium is constituted by public and private companies from Denmark, China, Italy, Austria and Belgium.

The project will last for 2 years. EFBIC RED identified 6 scientific topics with potential of promoting European Chinese Corporation: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, Diabetes, Genomics for Health, Ageing and Infectious diseases.

If you are interested in EFBIC RED activities, please contact project coordinator:

Coordinator: Jens Sundbye
e-mail: js@biomedicoforum.dk

ERA-Net scheme : an important funding opportunity for healthcare initiatives in Europe

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

ERA-NET ACTIONS IN HEALTH THEME:

The objective of the ERA-Net scheme is to develop and strengthen the coordination of national and regional research programmes.

Under the ERA-NET scheme, national and regional authorities identify research programmes they wish to coordinate or open up mutually. The participants in these actions are therefore programme “owners” (typically ministries or regional authorities defining research programmes) or programme “managers” (such as research councils or other research funding agencies managing research programmes).

There are 11 ongoing ERA-NETs started within Framework Programme 6, which relate to the HEALTH Theme. In particular they target:

1. Ageing (ERA AGE) http://era-age.group.shef.ac.uk

2. Health emergency (HESCULAEP) http://www.hesculaep.org/index.php

3. Organ donation and transplantation (ALLIANCE-O)

http://www.alliance-o.org

4. Genomics of human pathogenic microorganisms (PathoGenoMics) http://www.pathogenomics-era.net/index.php

5. System biology and genomics (ERA-SysBio) http://www.erasysbio.net

6. Guidelines on cancer best clinical practice (CoCanCPG) http://www.cocancpg.eu

7. Medicines for children (PRIOMEDCHILD)

8. Rare disease (E-RARE) http://www.e-rare.eu/cgi-bin/index.php

9. Neurosciences (NEURON)

10. New and emerging risks in occupational safety and health(NEW OSH ERA)

11. Support trans-national R&D private/private and private/public co-operations (biotech sector) EUROTRANS-BIO http://www.eurotransbio.net

Eurotrans-BIO call for proposal - deadline 7th May 2007

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

EUROTRANS-BIO is a four year project funded under the European Commissions ERA-NET scheme. This initiative involves government funding bodies in Austria, Basque Country (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Finland, France (coordinator : OSEO innovation), Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain. It aims at coordinating national and regional funding programmes for the benefit of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of biotechnology.

In its first call launched last year, EUROTRANS-BIO supported 23 projects (out of 66 evaluated projects), covering fields of economical interest (health, agro/foo and environment) for a total cost of 45 M€.

EUROTRANS-BIO is now launching its second call for proposals. The strategic objective of this call is to foster the competitiveness of European's biotechnology industry by supporting the research intensive SMEs and their strategic partnerships. Funding will be offered to excellent innovative industrial R&D and applied research projects in all fields of biotechnology.

The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is May 7th 2007 and the overall budget of the call will be up to 35 million euros.

Europe's new strategy for life sciences and biotech

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Commission published its mid-term review of the life sciences and biotech strategy on 11 April 2007.

A stakeholder consultation on the mid-term review of the EU life sciences and biotech strategy was open until 30 September 2006. A report analysing the main results of the the consultation is now published.

Industry welcomed the Commission's refocused biotech strategy but said it would be even greater if actually implemented. Meanwhile, NGOs denounced EU funding for GM food research saying it goes against EU public opinion.

Link : Communication

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Biotechnology plays an increasing role in the health sector, with the development of new techniques for treatments and disease prevention. Industrial biotechnology is also gaining momentum due to increasing environmental and energy supply concerns, since it represents an alternative to chemical processes and fossil fuels and promises economic and environmental benefits. Agricultural biotechnologies include development of genetically modified (GM) crops.

In January 2002, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled Life Sciences and Biotechnology: A Strategy for Europe . The strategy consists of specific policy orientations and a 30-point action plan to turn the policy into action.

Since the adoption of the European biotechnology strategy, the Commission issues yearly reports on its implementation - the first progress report was published in March 2003, the second in April 2004, the third in October 2005.

At the request of the Parliament, the Commission launched, in October 2005, an assessment of modern biotechnology and an evaluation of its consequences, opportunities and challenges for Europe in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects. The aim was to consider the role of the life sciences and biotech in the renewed Lisbon Agenda. A stakeholder consultation on the issues was also conducted in 2006.

Issues:

The Commission adopted, on 11 April 2007, a Communication on the mid term review of the strategy on life sciences and biotechnology 2002-2010. According to the Commission, the strategy has been successful, is still relevant and, therefore, its implementation will be continued.

The main results of the implementation 2002-2006 are integration of regional clusters, inspiration of national action plans and adoption of a new legal framework on GMOs.

Not much has changed with developing and facilitating innovation in the EU's biotech sector, which is dominated by SMEs. Small companies still have to cope with EU's fragmented patent systems, lack of risk capital to finance R&D and insufficient co-operation between science and business.

The review proposes to refocus the EU's 30-point action plan on five interdependent priority actions:

Promote research and market development for life sciences and biotech applications;
Foster competitiveness by facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation from the science base to industry;
Encourage informed societal debates on the benefits and risk of life sciences and biotechnology;
Ensure a sustainable contribution of modern biotechnology to agriculture;
Improve the implementation of the legislation and its impact on competitiveness.

The Communication is said to provide "an important step towards a competitive and sustainable Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)". According to the Commission, bio-economy stands for sustainability and cleaner environment, improved population health, support for rural development, and increased industrial competitiveness through innovative eco-efficient bio-based products based on non-fossil fuels and materials.

The mid term review draws on the Bio4EU study conducted by the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). It presents and gives concrete examples of possible biotech applications and assesses their impact from economical, social and environmental point of view.

Positions:

EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries considers that the refocused actions proposed by the Commission are an important step towards building the bio-economy. However, industry points to the lack of implementation of the EU biotech strategy by a number of member states. "Member states must take their responsibilities to implement the biotech strategy seriously otherwise today's mid term review of the European strategy will not generate the bio-economy and meanwhile US, China and the rest of the world will run ahead of Europe," said Johan Vanhemelrijck, Secretary General of EuropaBio.

EuropaBio urges the ministers to implement the strategy in a coherent and timely manner to overcome "the fragmented European legal, financial and regulatory environment" to help "stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation, take the science out of the labs and bring it to society, build the bio-economy and help grow companies, jobs and solutions to our own unmet needs be they medical, agricultural, industrial, environmental".

Friends of the Earth Europe warns that "the European Commission intends to promote genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe, even though it admits that that the European public does not want to eat GM foods" and argues that "environmentally-friendly farming will create more jobs and make the EU more competitive than if it grows GM crops."

"The European Commission's own research shows that the use of GM crops is an economic failure. But instead of scrapping its support, the Commission is instead ignoring the wishes of the majority of the European public and asking for looser regulation and more taxpayers' money for GM crops," said Helen Holder, GMO Coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe.

A recent Eurobarometer survey on biotechnology (2005) shows that there is widespread support for medical and industrial biotechnologies but a general opposition to agricultural biotechnologies in all but a few countries and that EU citizens see genetically modified (GM) food as "not being useful, as morally unacceptable and as a risk for society".

Latest & next steps:

A symposium on the Bio4EU study and the revised EU Strategy on Life Sciences and Biotechnology will take place on 20 April 2007.
A German Presidency conference 'En route to the knowledge-based bioeconomy' will take place on 30 May - 1 June 2007.

First open Calls in FP7

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological
development (FP7) cleared its final hurdle on 18 December 2006 when it
was adopted by the Council. The programme will start on 1 January 2007.
The Council also adopted a regulation setting out the rules for participation in FP7 by companies, research institutes and universities, and on the
dissemination of research results.

The total budget for FP7 is €50.521 billion, and the programme will run for
seven years. An additional €2.7 billion has been earmarked for the Euratom
programme on nuclear research, which will run for five years.
FP7 will be implemented through four specific programmes:
- Cooperation - collaborative research;
- Ideas - the establishment of a European Research Council (ERC) to support frontier research;
- People - human resources;
- Capacities - research infrastructure and potential research capacity.

On 22 December 2006 the first Calls for the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) opened, among them the FP7-HEALTH-2007-A Call in Theme Health of the Specific Programme Cooperation.

Budget: € 628 000 000

Deadline: 19 April 2007 at 17:00 (Brussels local time)

More information about the work programme, the research topics and the rules for applicants can be found under the CORDIS link below!

7th Framework programme (FP7) approved by the European Council

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) was adopted by the Council on on 18 December 2006 . The programme started on 1 January 2007.

The Council also adopted a regulation setting out the rules for participation in FP7 by companies, research institutes and universities, and on the dissemination of research results.

The total budget for FP7 is €50.521 billion, and the programme will run for seven years. An additional €2.7 billion has been earmarked for the Euratom programme on nuclear research, which will run for five years.

FP7 will be implemented through four specific programmes:
- Cooperation - collaborative research;
- Ideas - the establishment of a European Research Council (ERC) to support frontier research;
- People - human resources;
- Capacities - research infrastructure and potential research capacity.

For further information on FP7 please visit the CORDIS link below!

Catalogue on European Bioincubators and Biovalleys developed and researched by the SMEs go LifeSciences consortium

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A directory of European Bioincubators and Biovalleys including companies active in life sciences herein was developed by the SMEs go LifeSciences consortium. This orientation catalogue with relevant contact data and useful links shall serve as an additional search tool for potential European partners for life science research and development projects.

The survey for this directory was made in all 26 SMEs go LifeSciences project partner countries and one associated partner country.

EUREKA, a pan-European “bottom-up” initiative for market-oriented R&D

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

In today´s fast-changing and increasingly global markets, competitiveness has never been more crucial to Europe´s economic survival and the prosperity of its people.

EUREKA is a pan-European “bottom-up” initiative for market-oriented R&D. Created as an intergovernmental initiative in 1985, EUREKA aims to enhance European competitiveness through its support to businesses, research centres and universities who carry out pan-European projects to develop innovative products, processes and services. EUREKA currently counts 38 full members.

EUREKA offers a hands-off style… but help when projects need it!
EUREKA is an uncomplicated initiative but no programme and no funding organisation. Through its flexible and decentralised network, EUREKA offers project partners rapid access to a wealth of knowledge, skills and expertise across Europe and facilitates access to national public and private funding schemes. The internationally recognised EUREKA label adds value to a project and gives participants a competitive edge in their dealings with financial, technical and commercial partners. Through a EUREKA project, partners develop new technologies for which they agree the Intellectual Property Rights and build partnerships to penetrate new markets.
Each year hundreds of individual projects are initiated by European companies, an increasing number of which are SMEs. These contribute to improved wellbeing, security, environment and employment in Europe and beyond.

٭ Basic requirements for EUREKA projects
- innovative
- industry-, applications-, market-oriented
- international co-operation
- secured project financing
- civil purposes
- environmentally friendly

EUREKA is open to different kinds of technologies. No existing thematic or timing constraints make EUREKA a tool for every qualified partner! EUREKA is “bottom-up”: partners (the EUREKA project consortium) define project scope, duration and volume.

EUREKA´s role is primarily as a catalyst for collaboration, bringing organisations across Europe together in mutually productive R&D ventures and providing practical support through a range of benefits:
Networking: EUREKA helps projects to find partners and vice versa. EUREKA holds brokerage events focusing on specific technological issues on a regular basis.
Internationally recognised status: EUREKA projects are eligible to carry the EUREKA seal, an internationally respected hallmark of excellence.
Guidance to potential sources of finance: While EUREKA is not itself a funding mechanism, it can advise project partners on applying for funding support schemes run by EUREKA members.
Governmental contacts: EUREKA provides contact with civil servants, enabling participants to raise and influence issues relevant to their projects.
Promotion and publicity: Projects are widely promoted through various national and European publication (like the success stories), international fairs and exhibitions.

Additionally, each year the EUREKA Lillehammer Award is given to a project that has demonstrated its outstanding contribution to the environment. The EUREKA Lynx Award goes to the SME that has achieved or expects to achieve a significant increase in turnover as a result of participation in a EUREKA project (http://www.eureka.be/inaction/awards.do).
By encouraging and assisting businesses to innovate, the EUREKA Initiative complements the European Union's Framework Programme in working actively towards the common European objective of raising investment in R&D to 3% of GDP by 2010.

An example for a current and successful EUREKA project with Austrian participation is E! 3773 VMG VASCLAB:
The project with a budget of 0,5M€ started in May 2006 and will last for 24 months. The Austrian participant, an SME in Graz (Styria), CNSystems Medizintechnik Gmbh, participates to 30% together with Hungary (40%) and Germany (30%).

The full title of the project: “Vascular Multi Graph (VMG) Complex Non-Invasive Hemodynamic System For Measuring The Vascular Status With Lims” already allows to anticipate the field the partners are working on:
Vascular diseases (stroke, myocardial infarction, peripheral vessel occlusion)
These affections are still increasing in Western Countries. To improve the early diagnosis and therapy of these generalised diseases, combined analysis needs to be provided.

Their prevalence could be decreased by efficient prevention, early diagnosis and adequate, controlled therapy. The different types of vascular disorders have a common pathophysiological background, the arteriosclerosis, which in its early stage impairs the auto-regulation of the cerebral vessels, and decreases the endothel mediated flow in the peripheral vessels. Therefore the assessment of severity of the vascular damage or the estimation of the effects of drugs needs a complex and simultaneous approach.

Currently the morphological and functional changes in the vascular system can be investigated separately (intracranial hemodynamics or peripheral blood flow/wall motion or cardiac status) with the help of different equipment produced by different companies.

The purpose of this project is to develop a complex, non-invasive system for simultaneous and parallel measurements of the early morphological and functional changes in the intracranial and peripheral vessels.

EUREKA launches new service for fast-growing EUREKA labelled
SMEs
The EUREKA Initiative has launched a new website to offer further information and advice on private funding to research-performing SMEs and venture capitalists alike. Many European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create jobs and commercialise innovative products and services, increasing competition and improving the market. However, making the leap from the drawing board to the market is not always as straightforward as it may seem. EUREKA has played an important role in this process, helping its labelled-SMEs gain credibility and supporting them in finding the private funding they need.

Some 200 venture capitalists have invested in EUREKA SMEs and around 70 SMEs have received venture capital funding. The website is suited to SMEs seeking advice and assistance as well as potential investors. “It’s an ideal way to approach the venture capital market as it offers concrete information on the venture capital industry, tips on venture capitalist criteria and also includes efficient ready-to-use tools to build a professional relationship with investors,” states Collowald. Most of all, EUREKA’s pool of experienced partners and experts have compiled a list of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ to help master success on the market. There is also information on stock markets, mergers and acquisitions as well as intellectual property protection. For the venture capitalist, the website is an ideal start to find out more about the appeal of the EUREKA Initiative and its SMEs, with examples of successful project which have received private funding.

Successful seminar & training “Get ready for EC 7th Framework Program” taken place on 19 October 2006 at Riga Stradins University, Latvia

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

The seminar & training “Get ready for EC 7th Framework Programme” for researchers, SMEs and associations was organized on 19 October 2006 at Riga Stradins University, Latvia, within the framework of the projects “Boosting Baltic FP6” and “ScanBalt”. The aim of the seminar and training was to provide Latvian SMEs and researchers with information and tools to be ready for active participation in Health related projects in FP7.

The first theoretical part of the seminar dealt with issues such as the structure of the theme “Health” for the 7th Framework Programme, presented by the representative from EC DG Research. Furthermore, activities, experiences and results in FP6 Life sciences projects of leading research institutes and SMEs in Latvia were provided.

FP6 projects, such as “Boosting Baltic FP6” and “ScanBalt”, presented their results to the auditorium. The coordinators of 2 successful FP6 projects, i.e. the Network of Excellence “Environmental cancer risk, nutrition and individual susceptibility (Poland) and the Integrated Project “Novel molecular targets for obesity and type 2 diabetes” (Sweden) impressed the audience with experiences made, difficulties solved, and lessons learned. The first part of the seminar was very well attended by 44 participants from research institutes, universities, clinics, SMEs and associations.

The second practical part was dedicated to topics, such as information about FP7 on CORDIS, competitive calls of FP6 projects, partner searches, proposal preparation, financial aspects, IPR etc. During that part of the training the initiative SMEs go LifeSciences was presented as well as its practical database as supportive partner search tool during the preparation stage of proposals for FP7.

Well-received Life-Sciences FP7 workshop at BioTech Forum /ScanLab in Copenhagen, Denmark

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

On 28 September 2006 the two ETIs SMEs go LifeSciences and Passport organised a joint workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark, helping SMEs and researchers to prepare for European FP7 Life Sciences related R&D projects.

Within the framework of the BioTech Forum/ScanLab the day offered an introduction to the two initiatives, SMEs go LifeSciences and Passport, which both work on supporting successful participation of SMEs in EU funded Life Sciences projects. The participants were also updated with the latest information from the Commission on the possibilities in the thematic area Health of the 7th Framework Programme. A very comprehensive review of how to take part in EU research projects as well as a hand-on review on how to find a research partner using the SMEs go LifeSciences database were provided. The workshop was well attended with more than 80 people in the audience and was finalised with a separating into workgroups, where project ideas and possible future collaboration were vividly discussed. All in all a very exciting and rewarding day.

Biotech SMEs participation in EU founded projects exceeded the European Commissions' expectations

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

EU FP support to SMEs in LifeSciences area has reached the highest level ever met.

The participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in EU-funded research programmes is a priority for the European Union (EU). Recognising the innovative potential, scientific strength and strategic importance of SMEs, the EU set the objective of giving 15% of the funds for collaborative research to SMEs in the 6th Framework Programme for Research (2002-2006).

This goal has been difficult to attain in health research for a variety of reasons: FP6 focussed on genomics, leaving out several areas where the biotechnology industry is most active; academics, possibly more familiar with EU funding schemes, tend to design their proposals without putting exploitation of results at the core; while SMEs are sometimes unaware of EU funding opportunities or discouraged by the participating procedures.

To remove these barriers to entry, the European Commission worked closely with EuropaBio and Emerging Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) to devise a special call for proposals targeting SMEs, and consulted with the SMEs go LifeSciences consortium to call suitable research topics. This was supported by one third of the budget (€171m) for Health in 2006, the final year of the 6th Framework Programme. The topics in the call published in 2005 were deliberately very open and the call required research intensive SMEs to play leading roles in the projects with the SME(s) in each project receiving 30-50% of the EU grant. This was accompanied by a sustained communication campaign, which included specific information days, partnering events, and virtual brokerage events organized by the SMEs go LifeSciences network and supported by biotech associations.

The outcome exceeded the European Commissions expectations. 355 proposals were received and the overall quality was very satisfactory. Additional funds were mobilised in order to fund as many projects as possible. Ultimately, some 86 projects are expected to be funded. These will receive €200.5 million in total of which 43% is going to the SME(s) partners. Furthermore, almost half of all projects (46%) are coordinated by an SME. In total over 250 SMEs are involved in these 86 projects, and for many it is their first time in an EU-funded project.

In the 7th Research Framework Programme (2007-2013), the European Commission will continue its efforts to facilitate the active participation of SMEs.

Although it will not launch another special call in the short term, there will be some special topics for SMEs and they will be encouraged to participate in all areas of the Health priority and well as other areas of biotechnology.

Well-received SMEs go LifeSciences training at the International Conference on Biomedicine in Rome

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

On 12 June 2006, on the occasion of the International Conference on Biomedicine in Rome, SMEs go LifeSciences organised a trans-national training for SMEs and researchers on European Funding Opportunities for Health research. Perspectives for biomedical research have been outlined by the European Commission with respect towards the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). Furthermore, the importance of Technology Platforms in FP7 was underlined. Various funding opportunities have been presented, starting with funding of international research through the coming FP7 till funding of trans-national research within the ERA-NET frame!

About 120 interested representatives of life science research institutes, organisations and projects participated and benefited from a very interesting programme. SMEs go LifeSciences contributed in giving an insight into support opportunities for researchers in the proposal preparation phase and in finding research partners. The key factors for a successful participation in EU- Framework Programmes have been highlighted on the part of a partner, a Biotech company, and on the part of a coordinator, an academic institute.

Rounding up the programme, a representative of CORDIS showed how the global European Union research and innovation portal can help in successful project proposal preparation and submission, as well as project management.

The successful workshop on the first day was pursued by the scientific conference, with a plenary session and scientific workshops on the second day, and the Technology Transfer Day, MedInRome, on the third day.