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<\/p>\nThe European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the second health-related Important Project of Common European Interest (\u2018IPCEI’) to support innovations in medical devices. This includes the introduction of novel digital and artificial intelligence (\u2018AI’) features in medical devices. The IPCEI will support collaborative research and innovation, as well as the first industrial deployment of these frontier technologies.<\/p>\n
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The project, called\u00a0\u2018IPCEI Tech4Cure<\/strong>‘, was jointly notified by five Member States: France, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia.<\/p>\n The Member States will provide up to \u20ac403 million in public funding, which is expected to unlock an additional \u20ac826 million in private investments.<\/p>\n As part of this IPCEI,\u00a010 companies will undertake highly innovative research and development and first industrial deployment projects. Six of these companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (\u2018SMEs’).<\/p>\n Tech4Cure mainly focuses on the creation of innovative medical devices with advanced and novel digital\/AI solutions, which aim to further develop the predictive, preventive, and personalised medicine (\u20183P medicine’) concept.<\/p>\n Predictive medicine uses data and analytical tools to predict future health risks of individuals. Preventive medicine allows the early detection of risk factors and medical conditions to timely intervene and prevent diseases. Personalised medicine adapts treatments and care plans to the unique characteristics of each individual patient.<\/p>\n The 3P medicine concept\u00a0improves patient outcomes<\/strong>,\u00a0reduces healthcare costs<\/strong>, and improves EU citizens’\u00a0quality of life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Tech4Cure will contribute to the updated\u00a0Industrial Strategy, by promoting industrial resilience and reinforcing the Single Market. It will encourage the competitiveness of the EU medical devices industry and support the green and digital transitions with advanced, safe, and innovative medical technologies. In turn, this will strengthen the EU’s healthcare value chain.<\/p>\n The completion of Tech4Cure is planned for 2036, with timelines varying in function of the individual projects and the companies involved. According to the participating Member States, the projects are expected to create around 800 jobs.<\/p>\n The Commission assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n The Commission assessed the proposed project under EU State aid rules, more specifically its 2021\u00a0Communication on Important Projects of Common European Interest\u00a0(\u2018IPCEI Communication’). Where private initiatives supporting breakthrough innovation do not materialise because of the significant risks such projects entail, the IPCEI rules enable Member States to jointly fill the gap, to overcome these important market failures. At the same time, the IPCEI rules ensure that the EU economy at large benefits from the supported investments and limit potential distortions to competition.<\/p>\n The Commission has found that Tech4Cure fulfils the required conditions set out in the IPCEI Communication. In particular, the Commission concluded that:<\/p>\n On this basis, the Commission concluded that\u00a0the project is in line with EU State aid rules<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Funding, participants and structure of the IPCEI<\/strong><\/p>\n The IPCEI involves\u00a010 projects from 10 companies<\/strong>. These projects include over 70 planned collaborations with other partners in the wider IPCEI ecosystem.<\/p>\n The companies and projects were selected by the Member States, based on a set of national and IPCEI criteria such as contribution to EU objectives; highly ambitious in terms of research and innovation; to overcome market or systemic failures, and; generate positive spillover effects in the EU.<\/p>\n The 10 projects are part of the wider\u00a0IPCEI Tech4Cure ecosystem<\/strong>, which also involves 18 associated partners, from four Member States (France, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia). There are in addition around 45 indirect partners, which can be companies or research organisations that will benefit from the creation of an EU medical devices ecosystem because of the activities within Tech4Cure and from dissemination activities of the results of the IPCEI Tech4Cure.<\/p>\n From the beginning, the Commission was actively involved in the design phase of this IPCEI. The Commission provided technical and scientific expertise, as well as guidance on how to structure Tech4Cure around a common objective. Based on this pilot experience, it then launched the IPCEI Design Hub.<\/p>\n To facilitate SME participation, the Commission provided guidance and support on IPCEI rules and draft project portfolios in meetings with Member States, and direct participants. \u00a0SMEs were able to use simplified templates, and the Commission services organised early feedback sessions to help interested SMEs prepare their projects. This has resulted in 60% of direct participants of the IPCEITech4Cure being SMEs.<\/p>\n\n