Innovation
Launch of Coalition Next in Belgium
Coalition Next was first founded in 2020 in France by Digital Pharma Lab in the context of the Corona pandemic. It is a coalition of pharmaceutical industries, patient organizations, and healthcare organizations, that launches once or twice a year, a call for projects for start-ups in digital health and medical devices to meet the pre-identified needs of these organizations.
As the methodology has proven its success in France with more than 30 projects supported, in more than 50 healthcare institutions, for an amount of nearly €4.5m, concerning 20,000 patients, Coalition Next Belgium was launched in March 2020. MSD Belgium is one of the founding members and Azèle Mathieu, Innovation Lead, is its President for 2022. The Vice President is Dieter De Court, Innovation Manager at UZ Brussel.
Every week, Coalition Next Belgium gathers together its different members (note that any organization active in healthcare can still join CNB) who are convinced that together it is possible to co-create our future healthcare system by implementing digital solutions to address the main challenges of the Belgian healthcare system. Concretely, the pharmaceutical companies commit to finance the implementation of the start-up’s solution in the hospital if the project makes sense to them. This offers an excellent opportunity for healthcare organizations to benefit from expertise in selecting innovative projects and financial support for the implementation of the selected solution.
The following organizations are currently members of Coalition Next Belgium:
- AZ Delta
- AZ Groeninge
- AZ Maria Middelares
- AZ Sint Maarten
- AZ Voorkempen
- Brugman UHC
- Cliniques de l’Europe
- Eli Lilly
- I-Mens
- Imec.istart
- Ipsen
- Jules Bordet Institute
- Lifetech.brussels
- MSD Belgium
- Novartis Belux
- Roche Diagnostics
- Roche Pharmaceuticals
- Shared Patient Experience (SPX)
- Takeda
- UZ Brussels
The first call for projects shall be launched in September 2022.
For more details, please visit: Coalition Next Belgium
Innovation
Taking on Ebola
How science and innovation fuel our efforts to help combat a deadly disease
Patients are our purpose. That’s why we pursue the best science in our inventions and everything we do. Every breakthrough we create has the potential to build a healthier, more hopeful future for people everywhere.
Our company is a health care leader in the fight against Ebola. Along with external collaborators from all sectors, our scientists are at the forefront of the response to outbreaks of this deadly disease as we continue to address this global health challenge. Ebola Zaire virus has had a devastating impact on the world and has proved itself to be a deadly and contagious disease, with a survival rate of 50%.
MSD plays an important role in discovering and developing innovative medicines and vaccines to treat and help prevent infectious diseases. Global public health preparedness against future Ebola outbreaks requires advanced planning, system readiness for rapid deployment and collaboration and partnership between public and private entities around the world. Our partnerships with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health partners around the globe are a crucial component of our commitment to helping save and improve lives.
“It’s something that we take incredibly seriously and with a great sense of urgency to make sure that we do everything we can to support the teams on the front lines,” says Beth-Ann Coller, distinguished scientist, clinical research, MSD Vaccines.
“Our team works with a 24-7 mentality to help tackle these outbreaks.”
Safeguarding the future
In 2021, MSD established an agreement with UNICEF to create the world’s first global Ebola stockpile, the result of breakthrough innovation and collaboration with four leading international health and humanitarian organizations across the world. The global stockpile will offer a critical, rapid-response tool to help combat future outbreaks of this highly contagious illness that is endemic in parts of Central and West Africa.
“It has been our honor to collaborate with WHO, Gavi, UNICEF, the U.S. government and many others in getting to this point,” says John Markels, Ph.D., president of MSD Vaccines. “While there remains important work ahead, the stockpile is a new and powerful tool in supporting future outbreak preparedness and response efforts. This historic milestone demonstrates what’s possible when partners come together to pursue a common purpose.”
This level of collaboration continues to be needed for Ebola and other diseases. We remain committed to working in collaboration with WHO and other global and local health partners to support current and future outbreak response efforts.
As seen in the most recent suspected outbreak in Côte d’Ivoire declared in August 2021, our work continues. We will maintain our efforts for as long as needed.
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