What is the approximate stakeholder breakdown of your ecosystem?
Imago-Mol Cluster is currently comprising a number of 71 members, including 45 SMEs and startups, medtech, healthtech companies or private medical services providers, 2 facilitators, 8 associations, including patients’ associations and innovation support organizations, 7 universities and research organizations, 7 hospitals and 2 local public authorities.
The founding members of our clusters are the North East Regional Development Agency, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, Regional Oncology Institute of Iasi and “Sf Spiridon” County Emergency Hospital of Iasi. The ecosystem has constantly evolved since its setting up and now represents the most vibrant medical cluster from the North Eastern region of Romania and one of the most important from Romania.
Who are the top 3 champions from your Ecosystem?
IMAGO-MOL has a significant number of prestigious partners, among which we can highlight a few of the most active in supporting the healthcare innovation ecosystem, such as:
North East Regional Development Agency develops and promotes regional development strategies, attract resources, identify and implement financing programs and provide services for the sustainable stimulation of economic growth, international partnerships and entrepreneurship.
“Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi – One of the oldest ancient times of higher education in Romania, the University imposes itself as today with a valuable teaching body as well as with a modernized basic and technical matter, suitable for carrying out the didactic process and the scientific research activity.
„Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi is among the oldest and best-known higher education institutions in Romania, with an important tradition in engineering, scientific and cultural education and a thriving presence on the international scene.
”Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry is an institute of excellence of the Romanian Academy. The institute has a long tradition of over seventy years in fundamental and applied research in the field of organic and inorganic chemistry, polymer chemistry and physics.
RomSoft is one of the oldest software development companies on the local scene of Iasi, Romania and one of the pioneers in the grant funded projects.
Rayscape is one of the most dynamic deep tech startups from Romania, developing and implementing an AI assistant for radiologists (Identify, measure, and track lung nodule evolution accurately, enabling effective lung cancer detection and management on x-rays ad CTs)
Synaptiq is a startup developing an AI-based contouring for radiotherapy, a revolutionary software that separates cancerous tumours and organs at risk with the help of Artificial Intelligence
Apollo AI Technologies is a startup company, building advanced chatbots for healthcare professionals, collaborating with national medical associations.
Coalition of Patients Organizations with Chronic Diseases – COPAC is the leading umbrella organization of the patients’ associations from Romania, active also in European projects.
Praxis Laboratories is one the most important lab medical analysis providers from the North Eastern region of Romania, active in research projects and international collaboration.
What EU funding/collaboration are you involved with, or you would like to be part of?
Currently, IMAGO-MOL is involved in a series of projects such as:
- PRECISEU (PeRsonalised medicine Empowerment Connecting Innovation ecoSystems across EUrope) – funded by HORIZON EUROPE PROGRAM, INTERCONNECTED INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM. The project’s consortium includes 25 partners from 12 European regions of 11 countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Ukraine), being coordinated by Biocat, BioRegion of Catalonia, Spain. The general objective of PRECISEU is to increase the efficiency regional innovation ecosystems through strengthened collaboration and shared resources on strategic areas of regional strength and specialisation, enabling the development and implementation of innovative initiatives, and facilitating the digital and sustainable transformation of the healthcare systems. Norh East Region has become consequently one of the European Regional Innovation Valley for innovation in healthcare.
- VELES Excellence Hub – Strengthening the South-East Europe Smart Health Regional Excellence and Boosting the Innovation Potential – funded by HORIZON EUROPE WIDERA Program. The main objective is to create a conducive environment where “smart health” can thrive by establishing innovation and excellence ecosystems in the participating countries. VELES is implemented by a consortium consisting of 15 partners, representing both the four “widening countries” (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus) and three more advanced countries in research project access (Sweden, Spain, and Germany), being led by University of Sofia – Gate Institute. The project aims to create the first Regional Smart Health Data Space (RSHDS). This marks a significant milestone in the efforts towards a Unified European Health Data Space (EHDS).
- [eDIH-DIZ] – ˝DIGITAL INNOVATION ZONE EDIH – MANUFACTURING & SMART HEALTH for better business, life and health in the North East Romania region˝ – funded by DIGITAL EUROPE PROGRAM and the Operational Program for Smart Growth, Digitisation and Financial Instruments (POCIDIF). The aim of the project is to ensure a smart, sustainable and coherent digital transformation in the North-East Region by providing support services to SMEs and public institutions across the region, active in the manufacturing and health sectors (relevant sectors with growth potential according to the North-East RIS3) by giving them access to a consolidated system through the European-wide EDIH network. The project is coordinated by Technical University of Iasi and IMAGO-MOL cluster is part of the consortium ensuring the healthcare vertical.
- SECURE (Strengthening the European Chain of sUpply for next generation medical RadionuclidEs) – funded by HORIZON EURATOM PROGRAM. The project consortium includes 18 partners from Poland, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Romania and the UK, being coordinated by the National Center for Nuclear Research in Poland. The SECURE project aims to make a major contribution to the sustainability of medical isotope production and its safe application in Europe. It is focusing on promising developments in the design of irradiation targets, and production routes for existing and new isotopes in nuclear therapy and diagnostics
- REVERT – taRgeted thErapy for adVanced colorEctal canceR paTients – funded by HORIZON 2020 PROGRAM. The project consortium gathers 14 partners from Italy, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, and Romania, coordinated by San Raffaele Roma. The main objective of REVERT is to develop an improved and innovative model of combinatorial therapy –based on personalised medicine – that identifies the most efficient and cost-effective therapeutic intervention for patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
- TRACE-MED Inter-regional platform for new radiotracers development in personalized medicine – TRACE-MED is an initiative of IMAGO-MOL Cluster with the scope to facilitate and shorten the development process of new radiopharmaceuticals by creating an effective framework for collaboration between the relevant actors: top research centers in Romania and Europe, medical units, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Currently, TRACE-MED is a demo case under Smart Health Pilot of the Vanguard Initiative.
- InnoMedCatalyst (Catalysing the regional innovation capacity of the MEDIC NEST Digital Precision Medicine ecosystem) – funded by I3 PROGRAM, strand 2B, dedicated to catalyzing the regional innovation capacity of the digital and precision medicine ecosystem and beyond. The project is coordinated by NE RDA and gathers another 13 innovation leaders from Europe, including IMAGO-MOL Cluster.
What are the key priorities and themes for your ecosystem?
IMAGO-MOL was established as a medical imaging cluster, as the primary outcome of the FP7 project titled “Advanced Medical Imaging on the project, interdisciplinary and integrated by creating a network of Regional Clusters and Development Strategies in Europe” (AMI-4Europe). Initially, the main activities and efforts focused on medical imaging and supporting nuclear medicine. Over time, the ecosystem evolved organically, incorporating new technologies, which expanded its scope of action to include areas such as supporting the digital transformation of healthcare and integrating advanced technologies like AI. Additionally, the ecosystem has embraced the path of precision personalized medicine, with numerous initiatives being pursued in this direction.
What is your primary strength as an ecosystem?
IMAGO-MOL is deeply embedded in the North East region but also in the Romanian healthcare ecosystem, with the ability to mobilize resources and form strategic partnerships with other members.
We proudly chair the MEDIC-NEST metacluster in precision medicine, a dynamic alliance of 17 medical and bio clusters and regions across Europe, all committed to advancing this visionary approach in healthcare.
Additionally, we are at the forefront of driving digital healthcare transformation in our region as part of the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH-DIZ). We are also an active member of the Smart Health Pilot under the Vanguard Initiative, contributing to a demo case for innovative healthcare solutions.
Furthermore, we are honoured to be part of one of Europe’s Innovation Valleys in health through the PRECISEU consortium, which is dedicated to advancing precision medicine and advanced therapies across the EU.
Which are the main hospitals in your ecosystem and which are the most active in your ecosystems?
IMAGO-MOL Cluster is gathering a number of 7 hospitals from NE region: “Sf Spiridon” County Emergency Hospital of Iasi, Regional Oncology Institute of Iasi, “N. Oblu” Neurosurgery Emergency Hospital of Iasi, County Hospital of Pneumology, “Elena Doamna” Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Iasi, County Emergency Hospital of Suceava and “Providenta” Private Hospital.
Together with “Sf Spiridon” County Emergency Hospital of Iasi and “N. Oblu” Neurosurgery Emergency Hospital of Iasi, we have developed during 2015 – 2016, the USMED system for a fast and secure access of the physicians to the medical images of the patients transferred from one hospital to another.
“Sf. Spiridon” Hospital has been also one of our strategic partners in setting up the Regional Center of Excellence for Personalized Diagnosis and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging (MEDIMAG-IA) and is hosting the cluster’s medical infrastructure, consisting in a state-of-the art SPECT-CT, while “N. Oblu” Neurosurgery Emergency Hospital of Iasi is supporting the VELES project by building a local pilot on brain tumors related data.
The other public hospitals mentioned above are collaborating with us, currently under the Digital Innovation Zone EDIH project, as we are assisting them in their process of digital transformation, including connecting with the MedTech providers from our ecosystem.
