LONDON – The €3.3 billion Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI 2) is now formally under way, following the launch of the first two calls in which €49 million (US$66.8 million) is available for research in type I diabetes and retinal diseases.

The program got off the ground at an event in Brussels, which was the swansong for the director of the program, Michel Goldman, who is due to leave later this year after overseeing the €2 billion IMI 1 from an awkward start-up to the leading public-private partnership in health research in the world.

While IMI 1 involved collaboration between pharma with academics and small- and medium-sized enterprises, IMI 2 is a broader church, involving patients' groups, regulators, health technology assessment bodies and research charities, with the aim of not only discovering new treatments, but also speeding up commercialization and patient access.

That attempt to involve the whole of the health ecosystem in precompetitive drug discovery and development is reflected in the first project announced Wednesday in which €35 million will be invested in research in type 1 diabetes, with the aim of increasing understanding of the basic biology of the disease.

The project will address the current shortage of tools and technologies for predicting the risk of developing the condition, which is increasing in prevalence in Europe. Those tools are intended to provide patients with the ability to predict the rate at which the disease will advance and also inform the design of clinical trials.

Of the €35 million to be spent on type 1 diabetes, €17.6 million in cash is coming from the European Commission's €70 billion 2014 – 2020 R&D program, Horizon 2020, with €12.6 million of in-kind commitments of personnel and resources from the pharma companies taking part.

Highlighting the more open nature of IMI 2, there is also a contribution of €2.8 million from the diabetes charity JDRF, which also is responsible for coordinating the project. Another charity, the Leona and Harry Helmsley Trust, is contributing €2.2 million.

Goldman said opening IMI 2 up to such specialized charitable partners will help ensure it delivers results that will make a "real difference" to patients.

The second project announced Wednesday, in retinal diseases, reflects IMI 2's brief to accelerate development timelines. Not only are there no effective treatments for diabetic retinopathy and dry age-related macular degeneration, there are no outcome measures that are relevant to patients' lives that could be used in testing new drugs.

The project will develop techniques for measuring the impact of those degenerative eye conditions on patients' ability to engage in everyday activities, and that can then be used in assessing potential new treatments in clinical trials.

The emphasis that IMI 2 is putting on patient access reflects concerns that Europe's hard-pressed health care systems can no longer afford to invest in innovative drugs. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European commissioner for research, innovation and science, said one of the biggest challenges is to provide better treatments, while at the same time easing the burden that the aging population and the rising tide of chronic disease is putting on health services.

"Close cooperation between public and private sectors in life science can help us towards this goal," Geoghegan-Quinn said.

IMI is overseen by the European Federation pf Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) on behalf of the pharma industry. Roch Doliveux, CEO of Belgian pharma company UCB SA and chair of the IMI governing board, reiterated EFPIA's commitment to IMI, saying it is a "smart investment in health care" that will benefit European citizens and European economies.

"It gives us the collaboration platform we need to harness the potential power of science in medicines research," Doliveux said.

The program for IMI 2 is driven by increasing inability of governments to afford world-class care for populations that are living longer, often with chronic conditions.

The costs of care continue to increase as new treatments become more expensive and adherence to treatment remains low.

At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry is under increasing pressure, with cuts in health care spending, a switch to generics and the need to clear post-approval hurdles erected by health technology assessment bodies, undermining its ability to invest in R&D.

IMI 2 has been set up with a brief to overcome those problems by creating a new and integrated approach to R&D. The aim is to engage all elements of the health system, to build the infrastructure needed to realize the value of Europe's science base. Its strategic research agenda was drawn up following consultation with 52 organizations.