IMI 9th call still open for proposals in efforts to address key public health needs
25.09.13
The Innovative Medicines Initiative, currently in its 9th call for proposals, is working towards addressing unmet medical needs through new and more expansive collaboration. You are encouraged to submit your expressions of interest until 9 October 2013.
When IMI was first set up, its focus was primarily on addressing scientific gaps to improve and, hopefully, speed up the process of development for safe and effective medicines. While this continues to be an important objective, the focus we first envisioned at the start of IMI has shifted. Today, IMI projects are more attuned to specific public health and societal needs. It is the combination of the two that makes IMI so interesting: It demonstrates that the agendas of society and the research community are not only compatible, but also complimentary.
In continuing IMI’s mission to address those areas of unmet need most relevant to today’s societies, the ninth call for proposals closely considers public health needs. These include:
- Capturing adverse effects data using new mobile/real time technologies;
- Ways to incentivise reinvestment in R&D in the field of antimicrobial resistance;
- Developing innovative therapies against physical frailty and sarcopenia in ageing populations.
We need to address these areas, which have a significant impact on patients and the society we live in, but the industry cannot do it alone. The research we are envisioning needs collaboration expanded with many more stakeholders than usual: beyond SMEs, academia and other life sciences players, we encourage participation from public health bodies, regulators, IT… The sky is the limit.
The call remains open until 9 October and I strongly encourage you to join or create a consortium and submit your proposals. I also ask you to spread the word and share with anyone you know who may be interested, by passing on the details about IMI Call 9. The IMI office is there to guide you through the maze if you require information or help. The challenges we have ahead of us will require a greater spirit of collaboration than ever before if we want to succeed. There are many different fields and diverse areas of knowledge that can make valuable contributions – we just need them to speak up.
