BioWorld International Correspondent

A large group of Dutch companies and universities is finalizing a business plan for a research consortium that aims to give the Netherlands a leading international position in biomedical materials. The nascent BioMedical Materials Program is seeking 50 percent funding from the Dutch government for a five-year, €120 million (US$154.2 million) effort that will focus on defined diseases.

Emiel Staring, program manager at DSM NV, is coordinating the initiative, pending the establishment of governance and management structures. It has evolved, he told BioWorld International, from an existing alliance between Heerlen-based DSM and the University of Maastricht.

"That is a building block so to speak," Staring said. That relationship covers the development of materials for applications in orthopedic and cardiovascular conditions. The consortium also would become involved in diabetes research.

The participants would focus on pre-competitive, preclinical research, in areas such as the development of polymer-based drug delivery systems, scaffolds to support cell growth in vivo and in vitro, tissue engineering and implants.

"We hope that we will have some clear leads for real medical applications," Staring said.

It aims to interact with two related initiatives that also are getting under way: Top Institute Pharma, a drug discovery research network with partners from industry and academia, and the Center for Molecular Medicines, which is being established by the University of Technology in Eindhoven.

The consortium partners also would be in a position to leverage additional funding from other Dutch sources and from international sources, including the Brussels-based European Commission's Framework Program.

"I'm convinced this consortium will form the nucleus of other activities," Staring said. It could lead to spinout companies to commercialize particular technologies developed during the five-year program.

In addition to DSM, the consortium includes Dutch companies Leiden-based Pharming NV; Eindhoven-based Philips Research; Pharmacell BV, of Maastricht; Fortimedix BV, of Nuth; Innocore Technologies BV, of Groningen; Polyganics BV, also of Groningen; and Organon NV, of Oss. Two overseas firms with Dutch research facilities also are participating: Medtronic Inc., of Minneapolis, and the life sciences arm of Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd., of Tokyo.

The participating universities include the Maastricht University, Eindhoven University of Technology, Twente University, the Royal University of Groningen, Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Utrecht. The state-backed Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the Dutch patient group De Nierstichting, of Bussum, also are consortium members.