Spotlight on IMI results on Alzheimer’s, cancer, and more

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Get ready for our 2025 calls – a word from our director

Start preparing early! I have made the point before, but IHI is a competitive programme, and one challenge is to identify suitable industry and public partners for a competitive proposal. Now is the time to start preparing for our 2025 calls – mark 12-13 November in your calendar and join our brokerage event to find the right partners and capabilities for a strong consortium and a competitive proposal.

Many of our projects aim to improve our understanding of diseases, and capture this understanding in biomarkers that can be used for diagnosis, clinical trials and improving personalised treatments. This month’s highlights include the EMA’s recognition of new imaging markers that measure the severity of Alzheimer’s disease, and the identification of novel patient subgroups for optimising treatments for Sjögren’s disease, a difficult autoimmune disorder.

A better understanding of disease also underpins the advanced cell and tissue models that are central to the development of novel therapies. This month we report on the imSAVAR project’s fascinating breast-cancer-on-a-chip model that integrates and captures a lot of different biology in a laboratory model for developing novel advanced cell therapies. These are fascinating results - if you want to be part of a similarly impactful project, the brokerage event is your chance!

Niklas Blomberg, IHI Executive Director

Save the date! Brokerage event for IHI’s 2025 calls

Little wooden figurines talking to each other, representing networking. Image by THEBILLJR via Shutterstock.
Join us in Brussels on 12-13 November 2024 for two days of face-to-face networking and consortium-building for IHI’s 2025 calls for proposals. More details on the event and our future calls will be published after the summer, so watch this space!
Find out more 
Amyloid plaques in a brain with Alzheimer's disease. Image credit: ART-ur
EMA endorses new method for evaluating severity of Alzheimer’s disease
The European Medicines Agency has given a thumbs up – in the form of a biomarker qualification opinion – to a new methodology extensively validated by IMI project AMYPAD that can assess the degree of Alzheimer’s disease visible in a person’s brain scan.
Sjögren’s syndrome written on a small piece of paper on a desk next to a stethoscope. Image credit: bangoland via Shutterstock.
New subgroups of Sjögren’s patients mean better treatments possible
IMI project NECESSITY has found that patients with the autoimmune condition Sjögren’s disease can be categorised into three subgroups, meaning more personalised treatments could be possible.
imSAVAR's breast cancer on a chip. Image credit: µOrganoLab 2024.
Breast cancer-on-chip model for cell therapy testing delivered by imSAVAR
The IMI project has developed the first breast cancer-on-chip model tailored to cell therapy testing, specifically focused on safety and efficacy studies.
A close-up of a person using a smartphone. Image by Effective Stock Photos via Shutterstock.
IMPROVE platform set to integrate patient-generated data
By placing patients at the centre of the system, IHI project IMPROVE should advance the use of patient-generated data in treatment decisions and research.
Niklas Blomberg and Magda Chlebus
Data Sharing Playbook can unlock health partnerships
Health research collaborations mean sharing data – we can deliver faster if we identify and remove obstacles early, write IHI's Niklas Blomberg and EFPIA's Magda Chlebus.
A green traffic light against a blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds. Image by Eddie J. Rodriquez via Shutterstock.
Sign up for our masterclass on data sharing in collaborative projects
Our interactive session on 4 September will introduce you to practical tools and resources to help you share data with confidence when working in collaborative consortia.
Woman reading tablet. Image credit: fizkes via Shutterstock
Discover our new brochure: IHI 2023 In Focus
New to IHI and want to see what we’re all about? Our new brochure outlines our main achievements in 2023, from the launch of the first IHI projects to key results from ongoing IMI projects.
Niklas Blomberg and Duane Schulthess
IHI’s Niklas Blomberg stars in new podcast episode
IHI director Niklas Blomberg shared his thoughts on what IHI can achieve and offered some useful tips for applicants in a new episode of the Vital Health podcast recorded at the BIO International Convention.