Article

Synopsis

Within the project “CÓDIGOMÁIS – Creación de un Ecosistema Transfronterizo de Innovación en Salud” (“Código+”), funded by the programme INTERREG V-A Espanha-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020, candidatures “Show of Interest” are now open for companies in the health, technology and services sectors with viable and innovative “idea to market” projects. The goal is the articulation and integration between industrial actors of the health sector, and the research and academic partners of the project, in the Cooperation Area of the present project, with the generation of a market deliverable product. Potential partners, of the private scope, may be in areas pertaining to healthcare and/or health-related care, engineering and/or biomedical engineering, population health and/or biometrics, health communication, patient, end-user and/or health system management, policy making, and/or other similar areas.

 

Specifically, here the “Show of Interest” Call is aimed at industrial partners with a project:

  • of innovative potential to be transferred to the market, that is in need of a small start-up fund for its development, execution and product generation for market delivery (within the duration of (“Código+”). The idea is to accelerate the process of technology transfer.

 

Projects are searched:

  • with a high degree of novelty in the field of health and, if possible, aimed at population ageing.
  • that potential results (product) have high possibilities of being protected by patent or other intellectual property protection mechanisms.
  • that the results have a market application as wide as possible.
  • That the research groups from which the results arise are committed to the process of transfer to the market.
  • That there are letters of interest from companies in the outcome of the project or, better still, commitment of companies to get involved in the project participating, either during the development or in the commercialization stage, with financing contribution to it.
  • That the options to bring the product to market are through a license to a company or through the creation of a spin-off that exploits the technology.

 

 “Código+” is being developed within the Galicia-North of Portugal Cooperation Area. The main geographical areas concerned are the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra in Galicia and those of Cávado and the Porto Metropolitan Area in the North of Portugal. The Galicia-North Portugal Euroregion -which since 2010 has also been formally constituted as the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC)- has a total population of 6.6 million people (2.8 million in Galicia and 3.8 million in the North of Portugal).

 

The territory of the Cooperation Area concentrates important agencies from a socio-economic point of view, including relevant knowledge centers – such as the University of Santiago de Compostela, the University of Vigo, the Universidade do Minho and the Universidade do Porto, which are all involved in the project– as well significant production centers in the industrial sector and services, specifically around cities such as A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Braga and Porto. This territory is the one that, in the Cooperation Area, presents the greatest capacities for the production of R & D and public-private cooperation for the transfer of knowledge and technologies; thus, the approaches of our project are coherent with the socio-economic characteristics of the territory and seek to expand the present communication between entities in the region. The participation in the project consortium of public and private entities with a regional level scope –such as, the Consellería de Sanidade and the CGS in Galicia and, on the other hand, the INL and the HCP in the North of Portugal, which are all involved in the project– and others that may join (as per, initially, a present “Show of Interest”, followed by a Formal Candidature process to follow thereafter), ensures a broad territorial impact throughout the region. Within the Cooperation Region, one of the three main challenges identified in the RIS3 of Galicia is the application of “technological solutions for a healthy lifestyle model”. The goal here is to, by 2020, position the Region as “the leading region of Southern Europe in the supply of services and knowledge-intensive products related to a healthy lifestyle model”; additionally, the N2020 strategy of the North of Portugal identifies as one of the priority domains “Life and Health Sciences”, aiming to articulate between regional research and companies in health industries and services. At a more general level, “Código+” contributes to the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, which is the strategic document that will guide all EU initiatives and actions until 2020. More Specifically, it is consistent with the objectives of the Union Innovation Emblem Initiative.

 

 “Código+” general objective is the creation of a cross border ecosystem of innovation in the field of health in the Galicia-Northern Cooperation Area of ​​Portugal, which promotes cooperation according to the model of the quadruple helix (Administration-Centers of R & D and Higher Education, Companies and Final Users) and the market-oriented valorization of research results. The ecosystem will allow for the integration between actors of the health sector of the Cooperation Area, favoring in particular the meeting and the coordination between the demand of services of the final users (patients), the policies of impulse to the innovation of the Administrations regional, the offer of knowledge and technology of technology centers and their exploitation in the market by companies.