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Finnish perspective to the Personalised
Medicine while Bridging towards
Horizon 2020
EuroBioForum 2012, 18 April
Merja Hiltunen, MD, PhD
Counsellor, Research and Innovation
Tekes Brussels Office
Embassy of Finland
10-2011 DM 913958
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Tekes the Finnish Funding Agency
for Technology and Innovation
03-2011 DM 607668
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Public sector activities of R&D in Finland
Academy of
Finland
Universities
Ministry of Employment
and the Economy
Sitra
Finnvera plc
Finpro
Finnish Industry
Investment Ltd
PARLIAMENT
GOVERNMENT
VTT, Technical Research
Centre
Tekes
Regional ELY-Centres
Other ministries and their institutes
Ministry of Education and
Culture
Research and Innovation
Council
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Tekes R&D funding in 2011 Total 610 milj. € euros and 1 928 projects
R&D grants to companies and
public organisations 225 milj. €
R&D loans for companies 101 milj. €
Research funding for universities, research institutes and polytechnics 203 milj. €
01-2012 DM 840918 ja 450969
Funding for SHOK research programmes 81 milj. €
The funding for R&D includes 18 million euros from EU Structural Funds.
Research programmes of the Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation (SHOK) are joint programmes for research organisations and companies.
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Strategic research areas
determined by the Strategic
Centres for Science,
Technology and
Innovation
Value creation based on service solutions and intangible assets
Business in global value networks
Renewing services and production by digital means
Natural
resources and
sustainable
economy
Intelligent
environments
Vitality
of people
Focus areas of Tekes strategy
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1) What is the state of affairs in Personalised Medicine in your region / country / organisation?
Tekes Pharma Programme (2008-2011) promoted personalised medicine by funding research and development public and company projects where new molecular biology tools and biomarkers were developed for diagnostic purposes.
• The programme strengthened cooperation with pharmaceutical non-clinical and clinical research networks and funded the development of a national operations model for clinical research in Finland.
FiDiPro – Finland Distinguished Professor Programme implemented and financed by the Academy of Finland and Tekes, provides competitive grants to projects recruiting both international and expatriates, highly merited scientists who are able to commit to long-term cooperation with a Finnish university or research institute.
• With respect to Personalised Medicine, Tekes has funded two FiDiPro projects, which will continue until the end of the year 2014.
10-2011 DM
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Pharma
Pharma Programme themes (2008-2011)
Predictive models and methods
accelerating and supporting
the drug development process Patient samples and registry data
to support research
Identifying and exploiting biomarkers
Understanding pathogenetic
mechanisms as well as pharmaco-
kinetics and mechanisms of action
Chemical production technology
and innovative medical
formulations Solutions for synthesis and development
of cost effective synthetic pathways
New production technologies for
promising drug candidates and generic
medicines
Innovative drug formulations for children,
the elderly and for veterinary use
Drug delivery technologies
The development of a
national operational model
for clinical drug research Reformation and harmonisation
of clinical processes and
operations
Development of therapy-specific
clusters
Networked business models Developing business skills
Production of innovations and
access of new products to the
market
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FinnTrials - Tekes funded Pharma Programme project of five Finnish University hospitals
Project aims to develop a national operational model with internet based supportive administrative services for clinical research
The project will create unified principles of action and the single point of access to speed the feasibility of clinical trials in Finland
FinnTrials has made possible for national clinical research organisations to operate as a network in Finland to achieve better results of each hospital district projects
Connections has been built to ECRIN (European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network) collaborations, too
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Personalised Medicine as a part of FiDiPro Programme
FiDiPro project 1:
“Translational Research and Personalised Medicine”
• FiDiPro Professor Jonathan Knowles
• Finnish host organisation:
University of Helsinki, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
(FIMM); Director, Professor Olli Kallioniemi
10-2011 DM
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Personalised Medicine as a part of FiDiPro programme
FiDiPro project 2:
“Systems Biology of Cancer: Mapping, Methods and Modeling for
the Cancer Genome”
FiDiPro Professor Wei Zhang
Finnish host organisation:
Tampere University of Technology, Department of Signal
Processing; Professor Olli Yli-Harja
10-2011 DM
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Priorities
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• Health promotion
• Preventive healthcare
• Personalised solutions for wellbeing
• Intelligent monitoring
• Utilization of data resources
• Efficient and high-quality social and health care
service system
• Work and learning that regenerate human skills
and capabilities
• Affective and meaningful free time experiences
Vitality of people
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Current priority: Personalised health and wellbeing
Tekes Call for proposals 1.1- 28.2.2012 CLOSED
- Strategic openings of research groups
-Public research
-Excellence and high level competences for future businesses
10-2011 DM
Vitality of people
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2) What are the challenges for your region / country / organisation?
Implementing personalised medicine will require a high degree of collaboration amongst the many stakeholders in the life science and medical sectors
Implementation of Medicines Policy 2020 of Ministry of Social Affairs and Health • The document Medicines Policy 2020 (Towards efficient, safe, rational and cost-effective
use of medicines) reports on the joint objectives of the social welfare and healthcare authorities and stakeholders in the field of medicines by the year 2020.
National network and operating model for biobanks is needed • Strategic plan and vision
• Resources needed
• Competitive knowledge and business base. Efforts by academia and industry need to be stepped up
• Biobank Act is intended to come into force in Finland at the beginning of 2013. It sets new standards on research use of human origin
• European level collaboration (eg. Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) is important, too
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Horizon 2020 - Priorities for Tekes
1. Broad concept of innovation
2. New forms of innovation activities and user-orientation
3. SME-instrument (and other SME funding modalities)
4. Key enabling competences
5. Evaluation with various excellence criteria
Horizon 2020 has excellent starting point, orientation and target.
03-
2008 DM 369407
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3) What is your expectation of the Horizon 2020 programme and where do you see opportunities for collaboration?
Health, demographic change and wellbeing
• Corresponding elements and themes in Horizon 2020 as in our strategy
Research infrastructures
• Access to high-level infrastructures (such as BBMRI and Elixir) - valuable
SME involvement
• Strategic investments in key enabling technologies – key competencies
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
• According to the Horizon 2020 proposal, existing public-private partnerships
(PPPs) like IMI may continue to receive support - an opportunity for
collaboration
FET Flagships - potential
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Personalised medicine is an emerging field which will potentially
bring radical change to healthcare.
It is important to create a better understanding of the value of
molecular diagnostics both to cost effective health care and
better patient outcomes in Europe.
10-2011 DM
Future prospects
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Thank You!
Tekes' activities
www.tekes.fi/en