InnoMedcatalyst: the kickoff meeting

The kickoff meeting of the european project InnoMedCatalyst, a project funded by the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) programme of the European Union, was held in Piatra Neamț, Romania, at the end of October.

Clust-ER Health, one of the project’s main partners, participated as leader of Work Package 4 (WP4), a role that sees it engaged in the development of an acceleration program for digital precision medicine. This event marked an important initial step for the start of the project and the definition of its objectives.

Thanks to the organization of the coordinators, the kickoff consolidated the ties between the partners, building a collaborative environment that will be essential for the success of future project activities.

InnoMedCatalyst: objectives

InnoMed Catalyst aims to enhance regional innovation capacity in precision and personalised medicine by engaging startups and spin-offs to foster the growth of digital health solutions. Through the development of business cases, the project is committed to preparing a portfolio of projects ready for long-term investment by 2026. The InnoMed Catalyst roadmap is structured around strategic pillars such as the mapping of regional value chains, the development of peer-to-peer learning programmes, a 5P medicine accelerator, and an open innovation platform, fostering the advancement of the entire European digital medicine ecosystem.

During the kickoff, the various partners of the consortium were present, including:
North-East Regional Development Agency and North-East Regional Innovative Cluster for Structural and Molecular Imaging (Romania), Klaster LifeScience Krakow (Poland), MEDVIA (Belgium), Hellenic BioCluster (Greece), Cluster Soluciones Innovadoras para la Vida Independiente SI (Spain), Clust-ER Industrie della Salute e del Benessere (Italy), Health and Life Sciences Cluster (Bulgaria), Health Cluster Portugal, European Regional and Local Health Authorities, BIOCAT (Spain) and InPulse Partners as a technology transfer center.

The role of Clust-ER health and WP4

Clust-er Health has a key role within the InnoMedCatalyst project, in fact it is the leader of WP4, the work package responsible for the design and implementation of an acceleration program for MedTech companies, dedicated to digital precision medicine.

During the meeting, project manager Enrica Lombardo illustrated the workplan, detailing the objectives and milestones of WP4. This program will be aimed at supporting startups with a focus on digital precision medicine, promoting the growth of their business ideas.

Clust-ER, together with the partners involved, will organize a “Call 4 startup” in the coming months and will provide specialized mentorship to MedTech companies with TRL 4-6 level solutions, preparing them for participation in the European I3 program and offering support in key areas such as market research, intellectual property (IP) strategy and investor search. The goal is to accelerate the development of digital technologies in the field of personalized medicine, facilitating access to international markets and contributing to the advancement of advanced health solutions.

Work packages and related activities

During the two days of the kickoff, all the other work packages (WP) were presented by their respective leaders, who described the objectives and activities for each:

WP1 – Project Management: aiming to ensure high quality in the technical, financial and legal management of the project.

WP2, led by Health and Life Sciences Cluster (HLSC) – Regional value chain mapping: aims to analyse and visualise the ecosystem of activities, stakeholders and processes involved in the development of digital technologies for personalised healthcare in Europe.

WP3, led by MEDVIA – Innovation Capacity Improvement: aims to define and implement actions to enhance the innovation capacity of the participating regions.

WP5, led by BIOCAT – Strategic Roadmap for Digital Medicine 5P: aims to coordinate efforts at regional level to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies in precision medicine.

WP6, led by HBIO – Communication and Knowledge Sharing: this WP deals with knowledge sharing and stakeholder outreach. It focuses on attracting investments and maximizing the impact of the project through consolidated relationships and new collaborations.

Collaborative environment: the success of the project

The kickoff meeting was a key moment to build synergies and establish a collaborative path between the partners. The sharing of respective experiences, the in-depth analysis of the work packages and the presentation of some innovative startups started a constructive dialogue, essential for the achievement of the objectives of InnoMedCatalyst.

InnoMedCatalyst aims to be a catalyst for innovation in the field of digital precision medicine, working to improve and promote advanced and personalised European healthcare for all.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) . Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.