Two recent meetings to launch the networks brought together participants from Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, allowing companies and research centres to meet and initiate cooperation across the alpine region.
At Medtech Partnering Day in Innsbruck, Austria, delegates heard a presentation on the Alps Bio Cluster’s activities and of other cross-border projects that aim to foster development of the cluster. This included a description by Frédérique Laforest from the Institut National des Sciences Appliques in Lyon of the ALIAS project (Alpine Hospital Networking for Improved Access to Telemedicine Services) that aims to connect hospitals across the Alps.
Gerda Geyer from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency described opportunities for collaboration in the European programme Ambient Assisted Living, which aims to enhance the quality of life of older people through the use of information and communication technologies.
Another event on Biotherapy and Diagnostics held in Lyon launched the New diagnosis and Therapies network. During the morning eight companies and projects were presented while in the afternoon all the participants were invited to take part in round table debates on the subjects of Personalised Medicine, Targeted Therapy and Vaccination and Immunotherapy.
The Alps Bio Cluster is a European Union initiative that aims to unite research, industry and training resources in the biotechnology and medical technology sectors in a multinational grouping across the Alps. It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Alpine Space programme. Eight bodies from six Alpine regions are cooperating in the development of the cluster: Adebag (Association for the Development of Bioindustry in the Grenoble Area), Lyonbiopôle, Rhône-Alpes, Bioindustry Park Silvano Fumero, Piedmont, Milan Chamber of Commerce, Lombardy, BioAlps, Western Switzerland, Tiroler Zukunftsstiftung, Tyrol, Helmholtz-Zentrum, Munich and Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Bayern.
For more information, visit http://www.alpsbiocluster.eu
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