NEWS

At the occasion of MEDICA 2015 (I would insert the link here) - the global No. 1 meeting place for the medical sector - ZENIT GmbH, together with the Healthcare Sector Group of the Enterprise Europe Network and the project Fit for Health 2.0will organisea Healthcare Brokerage Event. The aim is to assist enterprises, universities and research institutions in the Health domain to find partners in Europe for product development, manufacturing, licensing and distribution agreements, joint ventures or other types of partnership.International Healthcare Brokerage Events at MEDICA have a long lasting tradition since more than 15 years. In recent years, the brokerage eventsattracted more than 220 participants from about 30 countries, with more than 800 face-to-face meetings taking place.

The current edition of the Healthcare brokerage event is being co-organised by the Fit for Health 2.0 project (www.fitforhealth.eu) which provides support through the entire innovation cycle of an EU project in the Health area, from first project ideas to the exploitation of research results.  This year, the brokerage event places particular emphasis on the efficient valorization of research results. In this sense, free participation will be offered to companies & RTD performers that display promising health research outcomes in terms of commercial exploitation and new business development. Entrepreneurs, SMEs & researchers who seek strategic partners to bring their products and solutions to the market will explore opportunities for business creation, financial support and further public-private research collaboration. In addition, renowned experts of the Fit for Health 2.0 consortium (i.e. InesHaberl (FFG) National Contact Point for SMEs; Joerg Scherer (Eurice) EU IPR-Helpdesk &HichamAbghay (Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum) Innovation Management & Tech Transfer expert) will be available on 17/11/2015 for one-to-one consultations.

During the FIRST STEP of your registration please select EU-Fit for Health 2.0 asLocal support office and do not forget to enter FFH2.0 as promotional code at the PAYMENT step

For more information and registration please follow this link:

www.b2match.eu/HealthBE2015

For further information do not hesitate to contact 

Dr Cristina Pascual, National Documentation Centre EKT/NHRF

Email: cpascual@ekt.gr

www.ekt.gr

The Health-2-Market Final Conference “Tools to valorize research: 1 day to follow the road fromresearch to market!” organised by the Health-2-Market project consortium took place on July 1st in Brussels.

Health-2-Market is a 3-years project co-financed by the European Commission through the 7thFramework Program (Health theme). Its aim is to provide training and individual support to health and life science researchers in the process of transforming their research results into successful new business ideas. The event gathered 89 participants.

The one-day event had the purpose to present, discuss and share good practices and experienceon how to exploit R&D results and bring research to the market. Project partners, as well as Policy makers, Health specialists from public and private sector, and innovation support organizations highlighted through 3 different sessions, the crucial elements – IPR, Entrepreneurship and business planning, Marketing in Health/Life Sciences- to be taken into account during this process. In addition, the outcomesand toolsof the Health-2-Market Project were outlined by the project partners (Annotated templates for Horizon 2020 proposals, H2M smartphone application, How-to-do guidebook on innovation strategy in R&D projects ).

The opening was held by Jeremy Bray, Policy Advisor, Health Directorate, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission and Svetlana Klessova, Health-2-Market Coordinator and Director of inno TSD France. They jointly and commonly stressed out the importance of initiatives as Health-2-Market that bring the gap between research and market, cultivating an entrepreneurial mentality to health/life sciences researchers and that support European competitiveness and productivity within the health sector.

The first part of the conference was structured in three sessions. In the session, IPR, project partners and speakers analysed in details how academic research can be developed into marketable products assuring IP protection while in the second session, Entrepreneurship and business planning, the entrepreneurial mind set was considered and experiences of start-up and H2M beneficiaries shared. The last session, Marketing in Health/Life sciences, stressed out the importance of developing and implementing a marketing strategy in order to have access to the market. The vivid discussions were enriched by short presentations of some of the invited speakers (David Pardoe, MRC; Christian Suojanen, TTS Global Initiative; Claire Bastien, IE Business School) presenting their experiences in relation to these topics and also with an active participation from the audience.

The second part of the conference, particularly appreciated by participants, consisted in the speed meeting“Αskthe experts” session in which B2B were scheduled - 20 experts covered 11 topics of expertise requested by the participants, such as IP strategy, licensing, marketing strategy, Horizon 2020 participation and others.

The great feedback from the discussions and the enthusiastic and committed reactions of the audience demonstrated the great interest for the Health-2-Market Initiative and the potential and need for further initiatives in projects related to health research.

Materials presented at the Health-2-market Final Conference are now available on the Health-2-Market Website.

Project website: http://www.health2market.eu

ProjectPartners: INNO AG (Germany), INNO TSD (France), IE (Spain), UGOT (Sweden), SKEMA (France), ENGAGE (Germany), APRE (Italy), Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL (Greece), WHITE RESEARCH (Belgium),EUROPA MEDIA (Hungary).

On 15-16 September 2014, EU Program Health-2-Market co-organized with CING, a 2-day training seminar on how intellectual asset management can play a critical role in developing innovation in universities by facilitating both research collaborations and the utilization of research results.

The speakers of the seminar were two experts from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, Bowman Heiden, Deputy Director of Center for Intellectual Property and Christoffer Hermansson, project manager at the Centre of Intellectual Property. The seminar was very successful and enlightening.

Feedback from the participants:

“It was a very interesting training seminar.
I am looking forward to participate in this kind of seminars again”

“Thank you and congratulations to all of the cyprus visiting team for the excellent seminar”

“Well organized and valuable seminar.”

To all scientists & researchers wishing to sign up to the 2014/2015 edition of the Management Fundamentals for Scientists & Researchers program, please be aware that there is only 1 month remaining for application submission.
Application closing date: July 28th, 2014 (Applications received after this date will be received though may not be eligible for funding opportunities).

How to apply:
Send the following items by email:
 

1. A completed registration form (please request by email)
2. A copy of your bachellor's degree certificate from an accredited university
3. Your CV
4. A motivation letter expressing: 1. reasons for participating in the program and 2. your expectations on what to gain from the course. Should you wish to apply for funding opportunities, include also 3. what the candidate will contribute to class and 4. what he/she plans to do after the program.

Once applications have been received you will receive an update on the status of your application within 1 week.

BioFIT (Fostering Innovation and Transfer)

2-3 December 2014, Lille, France

BioFIT aims at stimulating and facilitating technology transfer and collaborative projects between academic institutions, pharma/biotech industry, together with other practitioners in the Life Sciences field.

BioFIT is an ideally configured event featuring:

• Partnering with qualified and pre-screened one-to-one meetings

• Conferences to explore hands-on approaches to tech transfer and Open Innovation

• Presenting technologies, licensing opportunities

Further information: http://www.biofit-event.com/

The second edition of the European Biotech Week will take place from 6th to 12th October, 2014. Biotech National Associations, in collaboration with companies, academic and government institutions, science museums and the media, will organise events across Europe, including: science cafes for students, company site visits, seminars for journalists and MPs, even jewellery making and theatrical performances about biotechnology and DNA!

Further information: http://www.biotechweek.org/

EuropaBio’s Most Innovative European Biotech SME Award aims to showcase European Biotech SMEs that have developed an innovative solution to technical, social and environmental problems.  The award is committed to strengthening the biotechnology and innovation arena in Europe while promoting and empowering SMEs to generate novel solutions to unmet needs.

Entering its 5th year, the award has grown rapidly reaching a wide audience across Member States and is expected to once again attract a large number of applications from right across the EU. The European Biotech SME Award is geared towards small and medium-sized companies in all areas of biotechnology: health, agriculture, and industry.  It seeks to give recognition for companies that are developing innovative products and approaches to achieve that aim. The SME Award takes place during the European Biotech Week.

The event will include presentations from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank on the most recent European financial facilitations for innovative SMEs as well as a keynote speech by G. Steven Burrill, founder and CEO of Burrill & Company. This year’s award will be presented by European Commission Director General for Enterprise and Industry, Daniel Calleja-Crespo.

Find out more information and apply here! Deadline: 1st of July

Are you a R&D SME active in the life sciences sector developing innovative products or technologies? Are you seeking for funding or partnering in the next 24 months?

This event will give you the chance to pitch your innovation developments and needs in front of an international jury consisting of about 40 business angels, venture capitalists, corporate investors and other industry experts. Application and participation is free of charge but based on selection. Only the 28 most attractive companies to investors will be invited to join the forum.

Information provided in your application will be visible to the members of the selection committee and to the members of the International Venture Club. The profiles of the selected companies will be published in the ENTENTE-Life Sciences Investment Forum conference binder.

Find out more information and apply here! Deadline: 29 August 2014

EuropaBio’s Most Innovative European Biotech SME Award aims to showcase European Biotech SMEs that have developed an innovative solution to technical, social and environmental problems.  The award is committed to strengthening the biotechnology and innovation arena in Europe while promoting and empowering SMEs to generate novel solutions to unmet needs.

Entering its 5th year, the award has grown rapidly reaching a wide audience across Member States and is expected to once again attract a large number of applications from right across the EU. The European Biotech SME Award is geared towards small and medium-sized companies in all areas of biotechnology: health, agriculture, and industry.  It seeks to give recognition for companies that are developing innovative products and approaches to achieve that aim. The SME Award takes place during the European Biotech Week.

The event will include presentations from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank on the most recent European financial facilitations for innovative SMEs as well as a keynote speech by G. Steven Burrill, founder and CEO of Burrill & Company. This year’s award will be presented by European Commission Director General for Enterprise and Industry, Daniel Calleja-Crespo.

Find out more information and apply here! Deadline: 1st of July

Fit for Health 2.0 supports SMEs for a successful participation in Horizon 2020 Health-related projects, including IMI-projects. We invite you on 11th June from 10:00 to 11:30 to participate in a webinar focussed on the specificities of the new IMI framework and how researchers can benefit from this specific scheme.

Ms Magali Poinot and Mr Hugh Laverty from the IMI office will explain the benefits of the new IMI scheme, in particular to SMEs and academic research managers interested in its implementation details, including intellectual property protection and participation rules.

This online session is free of charge.

Registration: http://www.fitforhealth.eu/content/webinar-new-innovative-medicines-initiative-imi

Deadline for Registration is 6th June 2014

More information on how to get connected to the virtual conference tool will follow after the registration.

We are pleased to invite you to the Academy on “New Venture Creation and Marketing in Health/Life Sciences” taking place from 19-23 May 2014 at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

The training programme is offered free of charge through the European project Health-2-Market (http://health2market.eu/) 

The academy is designed for researchers, entrepreneurs and technology transfer professionals willing to study the peculiarities of successful marketing of innovative products and services, such as health research outputs, through an intense accelerated academy. IE Business School @ IE University (http://www.ie.edu/business-school/) is responsible for the academy curricula and training. IE Business School was ranked as the best business school in Europe for 2012 & 2013 by the Financial Times and has been active since 1973.

The academy will be useful for everyone who is involved with health-sciences related businesses, but mostly to those who have made some progress in developing their business model. Selection criteria will focus on this aspect.

Please note that as the training is designed for a limited number of participants, online pre-registration is mandatory and will close on April 18th 2014.

With the target to support health and life sciences investigators who wish to bring their research results to the market, FP7’s Health-2-Market project organizes the Training Academy : Intellectual Property, Ethics and the Utilization of Academic Research in Health/ Life Sciences, that will take place on 10-14 March 2014 at University of Gothenburg (Gothenburg, Sweden).

Online registration is now open until 25 February – register now to get a seat!

Participation is free of charge but online preregistration is mandatory. For more information about the “Intellectual Property, Ethics and the Utilization of Academic Research in Health/Life Sciences” and to access online registration, please visit http://www.health2market.eu/academy/2.

The Training Academy aims to take researchers, entrepreneurs and technology transfer professionals through the process of mapping research and research projects, from identification of intellectual assets to the capture and assessment of research as intellectual assets. A team of several experienced professors in the field of intellectual property will be teaching the academy, providing participants with a fundamental understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to the integration of research and utilization processes.
The Academy’s training curricula is designed by three of Europe’s leading higher education institutions: University of Gothenburg (Sweden), SKEMA Business School (France) and IE University (Spain).

Overall during the next 2 years, the Health-2-Market project plans to deliver to researchers a range of well-focused free of charge training activities (14 regional 1-2 day training seminars, 6 weeklong highly-intensive international business academies, and e-learning courses) as well as provide individual advice and support services on a wide range of commercialisation topics (including patenting/asset management, start-ups, business planning, etc.) in the field of Health/life sciences.

Stay informed on forthcoming training activities and services by visiting http://www.health2market.eu.

Fit for Health 2.0 is organising a free of charge full-day international training addressing newcomers to “Horizon 2020”, the new Framework Programme for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. This training day is addressed to companies, research institutes, universities, hospitals and other institutions in the fields of public health, medical technology and red biotechnology.

Date: 18th February 2014
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Address: Hotel Novotel Budapest Danube, Bem Rakpart 33-34,  H-1027 BUDAPEST

Deadline for Registration is 31 January 2014. Pre-Registration is available.

For further information please click here.

New e-learning courses are now available for health researchers who wish to see their research ideas become business ventures under the EU-funded Health-2-Market project.  The creators are professors from top European Business Schools SKEMA Business School (France), IE Business School (Spain) and  University of Gothenburg (Sweden), who have large experience in both teaching and doing business.
 
The Health-2-Market courses and materials are free of charge and they focus on three aspects:
•    Entrepreneurship and Business Planning,
•    Business ventures and Marketing and
•    Intellectual Property & Ethics.

The courses range from the basics of marketing strategy to tips on how to attract partners to full-scale business planning and will help you understand the dynamics of the market and how to pursue business venture. Whether you already have some experience in the business world, or even if you have never left the science lab, the courses are designed to be easily understood by anyone.
 
 

Great amounts of resources are spent every year on health research. These resources serve one greater purpose: to improve individuals’ well-being. Unfortunately, however, much of the output of this research just gets stockpiled into scientific journals, without exploiting its full practical potential. A question then is, how could health researchers be motivated to actually push their inventions into real healthcare products, that will eventually enhance the welfare of individuals?

Health2Market, for which I am the scientific coordinator for IE, is an initiative trying to provide a solution to this problem. Health2Market is a 3-year long project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission. It aims at providing Health researchers with the necessary business knowledge and skills for more viable Intellectual Property Rights management as well as market exploitation of their results through setting up of new business ventures in health/life science sectors .

It gives great flexibility to the interested health researches by offering (free of charge) services ranging from e-learning, to face to face training, even to personalized coaching for the most promising cases.  The goal is to motivate them in order to transform the great research that they are already conducting to healthy businesses.

To conclude, just like it is not enough to have a great product to succeed in the marketplace, it is not enough to do great health research to improve individuals’ well-being. This research must find its way to the individuals who will benefit from it. This is, fundamentally, a question of doing business, a lot more than doing research.  In this vein, initiatives such as Health2Market hit the sweet spot: They try to equip health researchers with the tools they need to bring their inventions to life, and (why not?) bring life with their inventions.

By the way, if you are (or know someone who is) considering to start a health-research based business, stay tuned: http://www.health2market.eu/

Antonios (Adoni) Stamatogiannakis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marketing
IE Business School – IE University

Source: Marketing Webblog

Fit for Health is organising a free of charge full-day international training addressing newcomers to the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020.

The event provides those not familiar with Horizon 2020 with comprehensive information on the opportunities and rules of European research funding. It addresses all those involved in biomedical, clinical and public health research and innovation: representatives and researchers from companies, clusters, universities, research institutes, hospitals, patient organisations, etc.

If you consider participating in Horizon 2020 and are not familiar with this programme and general principles of EU Health research yet, this is your opportunity and perfect timing to jump on the train!

Registration via http://www.fitforhealth.eu/
Deadline for registration is 31 July 2013

Click here for further information

Entrepreneurship and Business Planning in health/life sciences
SKEMA Business School, Sophia-Antipolis, France
2 - 6 September 2013

The Academy organized by SKEMA  aims at providing participants the necessary tools for planning and executing on their business ideas, transforming them from mere ideas to successful ventures. As for all Health-2-Market training activities, participation is free of charge.

Registration deadline: 22 July 2013

Further information and registration

The pre-registration is open for the e-learning. There are three modules that will be available free of charge (after registration) to everyone from September 2013.

The three modules are:

Entrepreneurship and Business Planning

Business Ventures & Marketing

Intellectual Property & Ethics

Further information

Content of the first newsletter:

• Health-2-Market mechanism
• Results of the analysis of health researchers training needs and validation of the analysis outcomes
• Innovation and exploitation Health-2-Market training
• Distance Learning
• Advanced consultation services
• Support to SMEs in accessing FP7 funding - Fit for Health project
• Learn from the best – IE business school

Health-2-Market Newsletter 1

The Health-to-Market website has launched today. You can get familiar with the project and follow its activities from now on www.health2market.eu.