Renewal and modernization of the national infrastructure for translational medicine EATRIS-CZ

Project acronym: EATRIS Inv
Project title: Renewal and modernization of the national infrastructure for translational medicine EATRIS-CZ
Project registration number: CZ.02.01.01/00/23_015/0008208
State funding provider: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
Programme: Programme Johannes Amos Comenius (P JAC)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Principal investigator: Hajdúch Marián M.D., Ph.D.

The modernization of the EATRIS-CZ infrastructure is a key step towards solving a complex problem in the field of biomedical research and its application in practice. Europe, although having a strong foundation in biomedical research, faces challenges in translating these discoveries into clinical practice and commercial applications. 

Transferring discoveries from laboratories to the commercial sector is a lengthy process. The actual success rate of introducing new medical products into practice is low. This decrease is due to a decreasing number of product approval applications. In response to this challenge, academia has intensified its efforts in research and development of new diagnostic tools and drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies are at a crossroads. They have a need to innovate their existing products and at the same time they are increasingly oriented towards the acquisition of products in the early stage of development. These products often come from small biotech companies or directly from the academic sector. In this context, a mutually beneficial situation arises for academia and industry.

The European Union has realized the need to improve its competitiveness in the field of medicine and natural sciences. In response to this problem, she founded EATRIS-ERIC, a major infrastructure for translational medicine. This infrastructure brings together the technology and expertise of >115 leading European institutions. Among these institutions are also institutions from the Czech Republic associated in EATRIS-CZ. This infrastructure plays a key role in the Czech research environment.