Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Case Study Analysis Reveals the True Added Value of Early-Phase Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Abstract

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) between the European Union, represented by the European Commission (EC), and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). IMI is currently the world's largest public-private partnership, or PPP, in the biomedical sciences (Box 1). The IMI was set up to boost the competitiveness of Europe in the biopharmaceutical field. IMI was launched in 2008, upon identification of the key bottlenecks in research that should be overcome to stimulate innovation in the drug development process.1 IMI brings the different stakeholders (pharmaceutical companies, small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs], universities, public research laboratories, patient organizations [POs], and healthcare regulators) together in PPPs. The IMI is situated at a pre-discovery or proof-of-concept (POC) stage and covers early research to improve needed and poorly understood science. The IMI Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), targeting key challenges such as safety and efficacy prediction, knowledge management, and education and training, was implemented to enhance the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical sector in Europe for the benefit of patients and scientists.2 In 2009, the first IMI consortia conducting projects addressing the SRA key challenges were initiated. Since then, IMI has already launched 49 consortia via 11 competitive Calls, and project execution of IMI projects will run until end of 2017.3 The total budget allocated to IMI is two billion euros (2008–2014), money equally invested by the EC (cash contribution) and EFPIA (in-kind and cash contribution).4 Box 1. Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in Numbers