Gp4Research – a spin-off company of the MUG laureate EIT Health Start-ups Meet Pharma

23.05.2019

One of the spin-off companies of Medical University of Gdańsk was the winner of the first competition „2019 EIT Health Start-ups Meet Pharma” dedicated to project teams and startups who want to support key pharmaceutical partners, such as: Amgen, Bayer, Ferrer, Johnson & Johnson i UCB Biosciences, in the development of innovative solutions for patients requiring long-term care.

Companies interested in this activity had to face five research challenges:

• ensuring proper diagnosis at the right time – Rheumatoid arthritis,
• patient support program based on telemedicine,
• Parkinson’s disease – How to improve the management of “consuming” motor episodes (dyskinesias, dystonias),
• creating a biomarker measurement platform,
• measurement of skin health in assessing the effectiveness of treatment and the ability to predict exacerbations in conditions such as atopic dermatitis and chronic spontaneous urticaria.

Gp4Research responded to the Bayer AG challenge. Our spin-off company created a patient support program based on telemedicine. The solution proposed in the competition is a response to the pharmaceutical industry’s demand for a new approach to conducting clinical trials. The idea of Gp4Research grew on the basis of many years of experience and commitment of the project team. For many years it has been implementing the research model, in which the patient and his well-being are in the center of attention. The model referred to as the “patient-centered approach” is to ensure maximum patient comfort during its participation in a clinical trial. Patient-oriented research significantly improves the recruitment and retention of research participants, which reduces the costs of ongoing projects. In addition, the main priority for Gp4Research is to ensure maximum comfort for the participant in the clinical trial, with the participation of family doctors and nurses of a given patient, whom the patient has been respecting and trust.

The company’s mission is part of the key areas of support provided by EIT Health. Gp4Research the solution submitted to the competition received support in the amount of 10,000 euro, which will be used to cover travel, accommodation, and access to mentoring services and the EIT Health networking network. The Medical University of Gdańsk supports the activities and development of Gp4Research in the area of personalized clinical trials. Two years ago, the company started talks about closer cooperation with the Medical University of Gdańsk. As a result, on 27 June 2017, the MUG’s Centrum Innowacji Medycznych Sp. z o.o. took over minority shares in Gp4Research. This form of partnership has opened new areas of cooperation, including the EIT Health programme.

For more information, please visit eithealth.eu.