The high level of excellence at Catalan research centers is well-known; however, innovation often fails to reach the market. “Very good ideas, proposals, and patents come from our research centers and hospitals, but they often have little impact on the market,” says Manel Balcells, health commissioner at LEITAT. What is happening? The so-called «valley of death»—the gap between research and the final product—is the main challenge. «We should be the Massachusetts of Europe. What is the difference? Our knowledge often stays on paper or, even worse, is taken by a multinational company,» he adds. The challenge is to bridge this «valley of death.» «Everyone agrees that a structural change is needed so that Catalonia can fully benefit from the innovations emerging from its health system,» Balcells argues.
The answer to this challenge is the Centre per a la Integració de la Medicina i les Tecnologies Innovadores (CIMTI), an agency formed through an agreement between the Health Department of Catalonia, the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), LEITAT, and the Center for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology (CIMIT) in Boston, which inspires the new entity. The agreement will be presented in the coming weeks, and once the project is underway, other organizations will be invited to join.
The objective of CIMTI is to promote projects with global social and health impacts arising from research centers, hospitals, and primary care centers in Catalonia. “It’s not just about finding solutions for Catalonia or Spain, but about creating a worldwide impact, as we live in a globalized world,” says Balcells.
Examples of such innovative health projects include diagnosing bladder cancer with a chip and a drop of urine or monitoring blood pressure using a mobile device. «Catalonia lacks the tools to transform the potential technologies emerging from its centers into marketable value,» Balcells explains.
The model for CIMTI is inspired by Boston’s CIMIT, a world leader in health innovation that runs pioneering programs to bring innovation to the market through close collaboration with industry. Founding institutions of CIMIT include the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). CIMIT is a non-profit organization serving hospitals, universities, and research institutes in the Boston area. Under the agreement, CIMIT will share its methodology for detecting innovation in healthcare environments and provide staff support to the Catalan initiative. «We are not simply copying CIMIT, as the American context is different, but we are adapting it to our needs,» Balcells explains. CIMIT has successfully implemented similar models in Manchester and Singapore. The collaboration with Catalonia is set to last four years.
Each year, CIMTI will select ten innovation projects to be «evaluated, monitored, and financed» in order to bring them to market—either as startups or through global licensing agreements. «Funding will no longer be an issue for these projects,» Balcells states. «We will ensure they have access to adequate funding, sourced from international investment funds, particularly philanthropic ones,» he adds. Many promising projects have stalled due to a lack of financial resources.
The selected projects will have to demonstrate global impact, feasibility, and the potential to be realized quickly. If successful, the projects could expand to other systems, but the immediate goal is to capitalize on the innovations emerging from Catalonia’s healthcare system. Projects will also be assessed for their potential to generate economic returns, which could fund further research. Priority will be given to initiatives related to healthy aging, quality of life, and chronic diseases, which also challenge the sustainability of healthcare systems.
«We are not delusional enough to think we will solve the world’s health problems, but we can certainly contribute to improving global health,» concludes Balcells.
Original source: http://www.ara.cat/societat/Catalunya-semmiralla-Boston-potenciar-innovacio_0_1809419077.html
