Personalized Medicine, Advanced Therapies
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BERLIN INSTITUTE OF HEALTH Personalized Medicine, Advanced Therapies Maintaining Health and Quality of Life, Creating Value: BIH Strategy 2026 “By 2026, we will have established a robust ecosystem where innovation is a driving force for better health and quality of life.” Prof. Erwin Böttinger Dr. Rolf Zettl Prof. Karl Max Einhäupl Prof. Axel Radlach Pries Prof. Martin Lohse Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Charité – Universitäts Charité – Universitäts Max Delbrück Center for medizin Berlin, medizin Berlin, Dean Molecular Medicine in the Chief Executive Officer Helmholtz Association, Chair of MDC Board WELCOME The developed and developing worlds alike are increas and aims to develop predictive tools for personalized ingly burdened by noncommunicable diseases. Illnesses medicine as well as advanced therapies that save lives such as heart disease, cancer and dementia have a and prolong quality of life. It is not the first of its kind, but huge impact on our societies causing untenable morbid we want to make it among the best. ities and mortality. With people now living longer and The new Board is now leading BIH into an exciting phase. expecting better health and quality of life in old age, a Our job is to build on solid foundational work to grow the new approach is needed. institute and meet the objectives laid out in our tenyear We believe the emerging fields of personalized medi BIH Strategy 2026, which this booklet communicates. cine and new advanced therapies offer a promising way We are ambitious. In just a few years we want to have forward. Since the year 2000, great strides have been recruited the brightest and most ambitious faculty made in biomedical research, not least the unraveling and staff, created multiple research initiatives covering of the human genome, advances in stem cells and emerging areas from digital medicine to cell engineering cell based therapies, and new prospects for gene therapy and perhaps even have already developed new diag nos through genome editing technologies. Coupled with tics or therapies. And by 2026, we will have estab lished advances in digital medicine and information sciences, a robust ecosystem where innovation is a driving force for these innovative fields have created huge opportunities better health and quality of life. to develop new ways of tackling in particular progres Our approach will always be integrated, forward thinking sive forms of noncommunicable disease. and research driven: our aim always to make the best The Berlin Institute of Health aims to create an innova possible use of life and data sciences for person alized tive translational research commons of Charité – Univer medicine and advanced therapies. sitäts medizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC). The BIH Research Commons is enhancing personalized Welcome to future medicine. medicine and advanced therapies research in Germany The Executive Board of the Berlin Institute of Health Maintaining Health and Quality of Life, Creating Value: BIH Strategy 2026 3 Personalized medicine facilitates tailored health care instead of “one-size-fits-all”. The concept is not new: Clinicians have long known that medical treatments may work well in some patients with a disease but not in others with the same disease. What is new is that advances in a wide range of fields from genomics to stem cells to regenerative medicine, along with data science are allowing patients to be treated more effectively and in ways that better meet their individual needs. Interdisciplinary approaches and new scientific alliances are crucial for 14th success in translational medicine. The MDC’s ranking in the Thompson Reuters list of the world’s 20 best research institutes for molecular biology and genetics. ≈150million third-party funding each year secures Personalized medicine creates added Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin’s value for all in the healthcare industry: leading position among university Patients hospitals in Germany Clinicians Entrepreneurs Regulatory authorities Payers BIH’s 5 ways to maximize the efficiency with which research results are translated into applications: 1. Excellence and Quality in Science Growth in the number of personalized 2. Education and Training medicine market volume worldwide 3. Services, Open Science, Infrastructure 4. Public Outreach and Involvement in Research 5. Spirit of Entrepreneurial Research ≈ 11.8% BIH builds on the joint forces of more than annually from just over $1 billion in 2014 to over 2.4 billion in 2022. (Grand View Research, 2016) 4,000 researchers and clinicians at MDC und Charité 4 Personalized Medicine, Advanced Therapies SUMMARY The Berlin Institute of Health has two key research priorities: to improve personalized outcome prediction in progressive diseases and to develop advanced therapies for personalized treatment. INTRODUCTION Personalized medicine, Advanced therapies We hear about breakthroughs in medical research Having completed our foundational phase, BIH is now almost every day. But often the period before such fin moving quickly to establish itself as a leading transla dings are tested and made available to pa tients is tional medicine research center. By 2026, we will integra excessively long. So imagine a world where promising, te hundreds of staff across four Berlin campuses with safe new treatments are swiftly brought out of the lab, an annual estimated budget of more than €100 million. quickly disseminated and speedily used to improve quality of life. Better still, imagine if they could be tai WHAT WE DO lored to specific patient groups, or even used to heal Translational medicine links research with patient care indi viduals with their own cells. to help quickly deliver new treatments and predictive These are the exciting new worlds of personalized tools. Personalized medicine focuses on tailoring medicine and advanced therapies, and the Berlin Institute treatment plans to patient groups or individual patients of Health aims to lead both to turn the tide against the with different needs. Advanced therapies are typically most burdensome progressive diseases. customtailored to the individual patient and include emerging fields of regenerative medicine, cell and THE BERLIN INSTITUTE OF HEALTH genebased therapies and nanoscale therapies. BIH is BIH is a cuttingedge translational research institute. It combining these innovative fields to study, for example, was launched as a joint initiative in 2013 by the Charité – how progressive diseases such as some heart disease, Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center cancer and dementia develop, and find new treatments for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association for them. (MDC). The Charité is the topranked university hospital in Germany and one of the largest in Europe, excelling OUR MISSION in the fields of medicine and research. The MDC, with BIH’s mission is to maintain or restore the health and more than 80 senior researchers, ranks among the world’s quality of life for people with progressive diseases. 20 best research institutes for molecular biology and We will achieve this by providing research and clinical genetics. solutions that enable the transformation of medical Our goal is simple: to exploit collaboration between both care into a personalized, valuebased model. organizations and together with international partners This booklet, based on our strategy, outlines our plans. to turn innovative advances in biomedical research into tangible health benefits. Maintaining Health and Quality of Life, Creating Value: BIH Strategy 2026 5 CHALLENGES AND PRIORITIES SUMMARY The increasing burden of progressive diseases is requiring a fundamental shift in their treatment, focused on areas such as digitization, patient involvement and advanced therapies. CHALLENGES The new healthcare landscape Health and healthcare have a fundamental role in SOLUTIONS our wellbeing, economy and standard of living. But Such huge challenges are not easily overcome. But across the industrialized world, healthcare systems recent studies have identified key areas that could tip are facing a fundamental shift. the balance. These include: People are living longer, and as a result the burden of chronicprogressive and chronic disease is increasing. Digitization Health care costs are rising and quality of life and To be effective, translational and personalized medicine productivity is jeopardized. This is necessitating a far must be able to draw on digital clinical information reaching change in the way patients are treated. systems and patient health records. Studies have shown that linking healthcare spending Patient involvement to improved quality and quantifiable outcomes – so Shared responsibility for healthcare and health research called valuebased programs – achieves better results must be encouraged to ensure patients are involved in at lower cost. Also, as people become more informed disease prediction and therapies, and become engaged and concerned about staying healthy, and researchers partners in research. learn more about risk factors, the concept of tailor ing healthcare to particular needs is gaining ground. Systems medicine research The problem is, research is struggling to keep up. Health research must be concentrated into research on De fi ciencies are emerging in the quality and value of how bodily systems interact (systems medicine) to biomedical research. This is resulting in a shortage advance personalized medicine.