Minister Fientje Moerman asked the VRWB for its recommendations on a new programme for financing applied biomedical research with a primarily societal purpose. The objective is to offer support to new developments in therapy and/or diagnosis that have a social application, but for which there is insufficient industrial interest at the time of submission.
This initiative can rely on the approval of the VRWB. Financing of biomedical research is especially weak in Europe when compared to the United States. Moreover, it can have the role of an indicator for the federal government, which is currently falling short in its support for research in this matter.
Even if there is no or limited immediate industrial applicability, this type of research can still contribute to the implementation of new treatments and/or diagnoses in the long term. It is therefore important that it is aligned as soon as possible to the industrial fabric. The planning of transfer and assessment of biomedical research is essential. A consumer commission with industrial partners can give its opinion in this regard.
The Council repeats its recommendation that scientific quality should prevail in the assessment. It would be a good thing to call on experts from the FWO commissions for taking part in the evaluation.
The VRWB furthermore advocates a project duration of three years instead of two, so as to make it possible to get tangible results, which should allow considering a seamless and funded extension, in addition. On the other hand, also the provided lead time of four months is not achievable, when considering the required opinion of an ethical commission in many of these projects.