The European Commission pushes on precision medicine with the “Genome data infrastructure (Gdi)” project funded with 40 million euros within the “Digital Europe” program whose goal is to bring genomic research into clinical practice.
Gdi will have to create a new European digital infrastructure for cross-referencing genome and clinical data of over one million people and thus win the great challenge of precision medicine, translating the successes of research in the field of genomics into increasingly precise diagnoses and more personalized treatments.
One million genomes by 2022
The project stems from the declaration of intent “One Million Genomes” for the production of over one million genomes of the European population by 2022signed by the health ministers of 23 countries including Italy in 2018, which aims to develop an infrastructure capable of integrating and making accessibleaccording to methods compliant with European and national regulations relating to the protection of sensitive data, genetic and clinical data to support the development of innovative clinical practices.
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Precision medicine-based approaches make it possible to optimize diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic practices on the basis of the individual genetic profilewhich can be determined today on a large scale at very low cost, bringing a direct benefit to both patients and the healthcare system thanks to a significant reduction in costs associated with traditional therapeutic pathways.
The Italian participation in Gdi
Gdi is coordinated by Elixirthe European Research Infrastructure for Life Sciences and Bioinformatics, and involves 23 countries, including Italy, with the support of the Ministries of University and Research and Health. The Italian partnership is coordinated by Cnr (National Research Council) and includes the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan and the Italian Institute of Technology.
“Precision” electronic health record
“The Gdi project represents an extraordinary opportunity for our country to systematize scientific excellence in the field of genomic research in the national health system which, although characterized by first-rate clinical realities also at an international level, is however very fragmented, also due to its organization on a regional basis”, he says Graziano Pesole (Cnr-Ibiom)Elixir National Node Coordinator.
“The digital infrastructure – continues Pesole – which we intend to develop, when fully operational, it will make it possible to include the patient’s genetic information in the electronic health record, and to share them in a controlled manner and in compliance with European legislation on the protection of individual data. This will pave the way for significant prospects for improvement and growth in quality and efficiency for many services provided by our healthcare system”.
The national biorepository
In this context, the projects recently launched within the Pnrr, for example the project ELIXIRxNextGenIT for the upgrading of the Italian node of Elixir financed with approx 18 million eurosthey will allow the creation of a federated national biorepository in a cloud environment of human omics data and will be able to facilitate the activities envisaged by the Gdi project.
“The challenge now remains that of guaranteeing long-term sustainability for such cutting-edge services, both in terms of financial resources and, above all, highly specialized professionals”, declares Pesole, “who must first be trained and then dedicated full time to their management”.
The Eic Fund selects 35 projects
Meanwhile the Eic Fund has put 190 million on the plate to finance 35 innovation projects under Horizon Europe. The Eic fund is the division of the European innovation council that makes investments through forms of equity in the winning projects of the tender Eic Accelerator and is a pillar of the New European Innovation Agenda. The fund has recently been restructured with the appointment of an external fund manager and it is now up to the external manager (AlterDomus Management company based in Luxembourg), making investment decisions on high-risk, high-impact companies, following the rigorous EIC Accelerator selection and due diligence process operated by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The new investments are the first major project after the renovation and represent “a significant step forward for the implementation of the investment component of the EIC Accelerator”, reads the note to the media. “The EIC Fund is now fully operational and updated to support innovative high-risk and deep-tech start-ups and bring their innovative technologies to market and grow.”
Of the 35 selected companies two have already signed investment agreements: Apix Analytics (the first universal miniature gas analyzer for all renewable gases) e Lattice Medical (breast reconstruction starting from patient tissue).
As part of the Eic Accelerator, a total of 313 companies have been selected since June 2021 to receive investments and support. The total funding of these companies is €680 million and 185 grant agreements have already been signed.
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