EIT Health welcomes eight new partners

Photo: EIT Health website.

EIT Health welcomes eight new Partners to our community. Amongst the organisations are research focused Paris Cité University, neurology leader Ontario Brain Institute and Japanese owned global medical device operator Terumo Corporation. 

EIT Health has launched into the year by embracing eight new Associate Partners into our community. The additions to the membership hail from six different countries and enrich the EIT Health network by collectively bringing expertise, resources and opportunities in neurotechnology, device manufacturing, cardiovascular systems, blood management, bone, joint and respiratory diseases.

Uncharacteristically for EIT Health, whose primary aim is to foster innovation in Europe, three of the new members have their headquarters based outside the region.

Jean Marc, EIT Health CEO, shared, “As we continue to evaluate our value offering for our members, guaranteeing we remain competitive by forming relationships with those beyond Europe remains ever so crucial. Strengthening our international relationships mutually supports our innovators to reach new territories whilst opening up opportunities for us to share access to resources including new technologies, funding sources and research.

I’m therefore extremely pleased to welcome Ontario Brain Institute, Terumo Corporation and Teijin Holdings Europe alongside, BioRN, Biosaxony, Chiesi Farmaceutici, UniHA and Université Paris Cité who all bring unique strengths to EIT Health that ensure our organisation continues to create solutions that matter.”

About the Partners:

• BioRN

BioRN is the science and innovation cluster of the Rhine-Main-Neckar region around Heidelberg. The non-profit network counts more than 140 members including top universities, research institutions, global pharma companies and life science start-ups. As one of EIT Health’s founding members, BioRN is now rejoining EIT Health to take a more active role in EIT Health’s Catapult programme, a unique competition and training programme that showcases life sciences and health tech start-ups to leading experts and investors across Europe.

“As one of the most agile and fastest growing life science clusters in Europe, we are delighted to be part of this vibrant community of world-leading health innovators.”  Julia Schaft, Managing Director, BioRN.

• Biosaxony

Biosaxony is the association of the biotechnology, medtech and health economy in the region of Saxony with its members representing various companies, research institutes and lobbyists in the area. As well as supporting cross-cutting technologies that bridge the gap between bio and med tech, a key strength of the network is in promoting sustainable technology transfer. Biosaxony are excited to join EIT Health to expand their network and look forward to collaborating with Partners beyond the region.

“As an experienced cluster organisation, we are aware of the value of professional networks for collaboration and innovation. By joining EIT Health, we can leverage synergies on a European level and contribute to shaping an innovative healthcare landscape of the future.”  André Hofmann, CEO, Biosaxony.

• Chiesi Farmaceutici

Chiesi is a global biopharmaceutical research-oriented group based in Parma but present in 31 countries. The activity is focused on: AIR (respiratory field, from infants to adults), RARE (rare and ultra-rare diseases) and CARE (specialist care, personal care and well-being). Chiesi is a certified B Corp, driven by the desire to increase the quality of human life for patients, their families and their communities with innovative products and services.

“Being part of EIT Health will boost and support our connection with the European ecosystem, reinforcing our value proposition through the scouting of promising solutions in our core areas, the development of innovative learning journeys and the synergy with other EIT members on projects of common interest focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.” Fabrizio Conicella, Head COI&C  – Center of Open Innovation & Competence, Chiesi Farmaceutici.

• Ontario Brain Institute

Non-for-profit Ontario Brain institute (OBI) is rapidly becoming a world leader in brain research, commercialisation, and care. Striving to deliver innovative products and services that improve the lives of those living with brain disorders, OBI brings together collaborators focusing on research and innovation in several key areas of brain health, including cerebral palsy, concussion, depression, neurodevelopment disorders and youth mental health multimorbidity.

Following the signature of a memorandum of understanding in July 2023, Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) would like to pursue a closer collaboration with EIT Health to enhance and expand upon the neuroscience research system in Europe.

“On behalf of the Ontario Brain Institute, I am pleased to announce that we will be joining EIT Health to amplify our work to accelerate solutions that improve brain health. As a world-renowned knowledge and innovation community, EIT Health’s ethos is well aligned with that of our organization in that we are driving improvements in research and commercialization, as well as creating positive impacts for patients and their caregivers.”   Dr. Tom Mikkelsen, President and Scientific Director, Ontario Brain Institute.

• Terumo Corporation

Japanese owned Terumo is a global medical device operator with subsidiaries across the world, and contributes to healthcare in more than 160 countries with manufacturing and R&D facilities in Europe. The organisation specialises in cardiovascular systems, blood management and general hospital solutions (e.g. infusion sets, digital thermometers and blood pressure monitors).

Terumo’s motivation for EIT Health membership lies in their commitment to global partnerships and open innovation. With a strong interest in Europe, they are looking forward to collaborating on initiatives that drive innovation in the medical device industry, offering and contributing their deep knowledge expertise in this industry.

“We are thrilled to join EIT Health to further our efforts towards our group mission of ‘Contributing to Society through Healthcare’, which deeply resonates with the philosophy of EIT Health. We believe that this partnership will enable us to accelerate solutions that create ‘quality time for better care’ for everyone involved in healthcare.” Hikaru Samejima, Group Senior Managing Executive Officer President, Medical Care Solutions Company, Terumo Corporation.

• Teijin Holdings Europe

Teijin is a Japanese chemical, pharmaceutical and information technology company focused on the treatment of bone, joint, respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Teijin’s motivation for joining EIT Health is to expand its network and collaborate with innovators developing medical devices and digital health products.

“As one of the largest accelerators operating across Europe, we are delighted to welcome Tejin to our network and support their connections with start-ups and new technologies in their core focus areas.” Menno Kok, Managing Director, EIT Health Belgium-Netherlands.

• UniHA

French leading healthcare group procurement organisation UniHa was created in 2005, by and for hospitals, with 95% of France’s public and private non-profit hospitals signed on as members, and its diverse commodities portfolio covering 80% of health products including drugs, biomedicine and digital health.

UniHA’s ambitions are to work with hospitals to pioneer value-based procurement and innovation procurement initiatives, train the healthcare ecosystem, contribute to increasing awareness in value-based healthcare innovation, and foster cross-border collaboration amongst hospitals.

“We believe that this procurement lever is a catalyst to create sustainable value in health, for the benefit of patients, clinicians, hospitals and health systems. We have the ambition to collaborate with companies willing to help us shift from a transactional to a value-based and patient driven procurement approach.” Sophie Carlier UniHA Head of European and Transformation procurement programs.

• Université Paris Cité

As public research university, Université Paris Cité comes with a recognised international standing and has signed over 150 conventions with foreign universities across five continents, including in Rome, Madrid, Rotterdam, and Stockholm.  They join us with existing international and national partnerships including EIT Health Partners Assitance Publique Hopitaux de Paris (APHP) and Inserm.

The university first collaborated with EIT Health on the creation of the Value Based Healthcare Handbook (2019) and look forward to working alongside the community to develop educational content that closes the digital literacy gap, supporting the healthcare workforce to deliver value in outcomes that matter to patients.

This article was first published on 8 March by EIT Health.