Large-scale EU project on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Fourteen organizations from eight different regions across Europe have launched, with the support of the European Commission, a project that aims to build collaboration in the field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM).

The development of innovative advanced therapies based on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine offers new opportunities to tackle major diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer or Parkinson. They are recognized as sources for medical progress and simultaneously significant growth for European economies. However, it is also recognized that there are many challenges facing advanced therapies, e.g. technical, regulatory or ethical, and growing competition from the US and Asia.

TERM - Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
To enable and strengthen the exploitation of these opportunities, 14 organizations from eight different regions across Europe have launched, with the support of the European Commission, a project that aims to build collaboration in the field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM).

A three-year-project
With an initial budget of €2.5 million, the TERM project will over the next three years develop knowledge and strategies on how to use the resources of regions and clusters more efficiently, with more synergy and focus. It will also propose new programs for research and innovation support.

TERM will develop tools to efficiently assess the research potential of a region, implement best practices in a research cluster, develop inter-regional programs with joint research goals and suggest financial instruments that support these efforts. The output of the project will be the development of a European strategy; action plans and best practice tools on how to link research clusters from different regions of Europe in order to create world-class conditions for research and industry in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

The TERM consortium aims at structuring cooperation between regional clusters and regional authorities to ensure that stakeholders get the maximum support to target and make use of their knowledge and resources in the most productive way.

Action plan

A first action plan will be presented by the end of 2011, after which the consortium will start up pilot operations in response to needs defined by industry and research institutes in the joint action plan.

The TERM consortium is led from Nantes in France. Besides GöteborgBIO/Medcoast Scandinavia, other participating regions are Uppsala, Berlin, Wallonia, Tartu, Milan and Madrid. VINNOVA is participating on a national level for Sweden.

The TERM consortium members are:

• Atlanpole Biothérapies - France

• MedCoast Scandinavia (in cooperation with GöteborgBIO) - Norway and Sweden

• Fondazione centro san raffaele del monte tabor - Italy

• Biowin asbl - Belgium

• Asociacion Madrid plataforma de la biotecnología - Spain

• Baltic innovation agency - Estonia

• Charite - universitaetsmedizin Berlin - Germany

• Uppsala BIO - Sweden

• Interface Europe - Belgium

• Région des pays de la Loire - France

• Instituto madrileño de desarrollo - Spain

• Service public de Wallonie - Belgium

• Verket för innovationssystem, VINNOVA - Sweden

• Regionförbundet Uppsala län - Sweden

Contact: Bengt Belfrage, GöteborgBIO, phone + 46 (0)70-5163245