Fraunhofer IME Seminar on Innovation and Knowledge driven R&D in Agriculture and Health in Brussels - Belgium
15 March 2011 - 15 March 2011
Belgium
The Seminar will take place from 10.00 till 13.00 on 15th March 2011 in the European Parliament, room P7C050, Brussels, Belgium.
The Seminar will focus on innovation and knowledge driven R&D for future agriculture and health. The purpose of the seminar will be to answer the question of: what long term EU policies are needed to maximize economic development, to improve health and nutrition, to sustain and mine biodiversity and to address global challenges along the value chain?
The seminar will also address science in the digital age and international cooperation in science with a special focus on Africa.
The key speech will be given by Prof. Dr. Rainer Fischer senior executive director of Fraunhofer IME, Aachen.
The seminar will cover three specific topics:
Theme 1: Knowledge-based biodiversity
Our diverse ecosystems provide a rich source of molecules that can be developed into innovative drugs for key indication areas such as cancer, infectious diseases including HIV and tuberculosis, and tropical diseases such as malaria. This potential can only be realized by providing sustainable infrastructure and project funding, not only for discovery-driven research, but also for translational research that supports drug manufacturing, preclinical testing and clinical trials in an evolving regulatory framework within Europe and also in developing countries.
Theme 2: Innovative product development, from idea to market
Product development must be seen as an integrated concept, with a seamless transition between R&D and funding for drug repurposing, drug manufacturing, preclinical testing, clinical trials, regulatory compliance and biosafety assessment. This joined-up approach is essential to reduce the time to market. Currently, Fraunhofer supports research, preclinical and clinical development to phase I, but there is little external funding for late-stage clinical development.
Theme 3: Plant-derived pharmaceuticals and polymers
Plants offer a safe, inexpensive and highly-scalable suite of production platforms for biopharmaceuticals and industrial polymers. Funding is required to support the development of ground-breaking, automated production facilities and to support the application of smart breeding technologies so that plant species endemic to Europe can be used to produce valuable polymers such as starch, inulin, lignocelluloses and rubber on an agricultural scale.
Additional information on the EP Seminar is available at:
http://www.iscintelligence.com/event.php?id=24(opens in new window)
The Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) (http://www.ime.fraunhofer.de/EN/(opens in new window)) conducts research in the field of applied life sciences from a molecular level to entire ecosystems. Fraunhofer IME offers research and development services for medicine, agriculture and environmental protection with main emphasis on:
• diagnosis and therapy of human, animal and plant diseases
• protection and improvement of food and feed stocks
• identification and assessment of risks in synthetic and biogenous substances for consumer and environment
• development of strategies for minimization of risks.
Fraunhofer IME interdisciplinary organization and laboratories with most recent equipment including GMP facilities and complex facilities for environmental simulations allow a wide spectrum of research and development services in the areas of molecular biology, biotechnology, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology and ecology.
The institute has around 220 employees working at the locations Schmallenberg, Aachen and Gießen. We have close ties with the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the University of Technology (RWTH) Aachen in terms of personnel and areas of work.
The Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB) in Newark, Delaware, secures a direct presence of the IME on the American market. Within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft we have close co-operations with the other institutes of the Fraunhofer Group for Life-Sciences, the Fraunhofer Food Chain Management Alliance and the Photocatalysis Alliance.
The Seminar will focus on innovation and knowledge driven R&D for future agriculture and health. The purpose of the seminar will be to answer the question of: what long term EU policies are needed to maximize economic development, to improve health and nutrition, to sustain and mine biodiversity and to address global challenges along the value chain?
The seminar will also address science in the digital age and international cooperation in science with a special focus on Africa.
The key speech will be given by Prof. Dr. Rainer Fischer senior executive director of Fraunhofer IME, Aachen.
The seminar will cover three specific topics:
Theme 1: Knowledge-based biodiversity
Our diverse ecosystems provide a rich source of molecules that can be developed into innovative drugs for key indication areas such as cancer, infectious diseases including HIV and tuberculosis, and tropical diseases such as malaria. This potential can only be realized by providing sustainable infrastructure and project funding, not only for discovery-driven research, but also for translational research that supports drug manufacturing, preclinical testing and clinical trials in an evolving regulatory framework within Europe and also in developing countries.
Theme 2: Innovative product development, from idea to market
Product development must be seen as an integrated concept, with a seamless transition between R&D and funding for drug repurposing, drug manufacturing, preclinical testing, clinical trials, regulatory compliance and biosafety assessment. This joined-up approach is essential to reduce the time to market. Currently, Fraunhofer supports research, preclinical and clinical development to phase I, but there is little external funding for late-stage clinical development.
Theme 3: Plant-derived pharmaceuticals and polymers
Plants offer a safe, inexpensive and highly-scalable suite of production platforms for biopharmaceuticals and industrial polymers. Funding is required to support the development of ground-breaking, automated production facilities and to support the application of smart breeding technologies so that plant species endemic to Europe can be used to produce valuable polymers such as starch, inulin, lignocelluloses and rubber on an agricultural scale.
Additional information on the EP Seminar is available at:
http://www.iscintelligence.com/event.php?id=24(opens in new window)
The Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) (http://www.ime.fraunhofer.de/EN/(opens in new window)) conducts research in the field of applied life sciences from a molecular level to entire ecosystems. Fraunhofer IME offers research and development services for medicine, agriculture and environmental protection with main emphasis on:
• diagnosis and therapy of human, animal and plant diseases
• protection and improvement of food and feed stocks
• identification and assessment of risks in synthetic and biogenous substances for consumer and environment
• development of strategies for minimization of risks.
Fraunhofer IME interdisciplinary organization and laboratories with most recent equipment including GMP facilities and complex facilities for environmental simulations allow a wide spectrum of research and development services in the areas of molecular biology, biotechnology, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology and ecology.
The institute has around 220 employees working at the locations Schmallenberg, Aachen and Gießen. We have close ties with the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the University of Technology (RWTH) Aachen in terms of personnel and areas of work.
The Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB) in Newark, Delaware, secures a direct presence of the IME on the American market. Within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft we have close co-operations with the other institutes of the Fraunhofer Group for Life-Sciences, the Fraunhofer Food Chain Management Alliance and the Photocatalysis Alliance.