Health technology clusters in Cambridge (UK), Leuven (Belgium) and Heidelberg (Germany) agreed on the formation of the Health Axis Europe alliance to foster health innovation across Europe.
Leuven (Belgium) | Representatives of the three biomedical clusters in Cambridge (UK), Leuven (Belgium) and Heidelberg (Germany) today convened in Leuven to form a strategic alliance called “Health Axis Europe” in order to cross-leverage their innovation resources and thus jointly increase their international competitiveness. The alliance will be governed and driven by the Health Axis Europe Committee comprising key individuals of each cluster representing the local industry, science, politics and venture capital. The parties forming the alliance are K.U. Leuven Research & Development (LRD), the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the Heidelberg-based BioRN Network. The partners will promote collaboration in the areas of regenerative medicine, stem cell research, medical devices and personalised medicine with focus on research, development and education as well as in procuring financial funds with particular consideration of the support schemes of the European Union.
Martin Hinoul, Business Development Manager at Leuven R&D, stated: “If knowledge is the driving force behind prosperity and well-being in this millennium then the unique European health technology cluster alliance between Heidelberg, Leuven and Cambridge can certainly leverage this.”
Alan Barrell, Entrepreneur in Residence and representative of Cambridge Worldwide Associates, said: “Within Europe, the combined academic, clinical and commercial strength in healthcare and especially advanced areas of medical research and innovation which resides in these three centres is exceptional. Cross border, cross cultural and cross functional activities will lead to more discovery and greater success in the commercialisation of research.”
The Managing Director of the BioRN Network in Heidelberg, Christian Tidona, added: “This alliance is an important step towards critical mass in Europe in the field of biomedical research. It will allow us to competitively address the big health issues of an ageing population“.
The Committee and the Executive Board of the Health Axis Europe will assemble within in the next three months and initiate the first joint research and development projects.
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