The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry. Born of the necessity to foster collaboration between different stakeholders in order to address growing challenges in bringing new medicines to market and the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, IMI has successfully delivered the radical collaboration needed to address these challenges. The IHI is designed to build on what worked well in IMI, address the lessons learnt, and leverage the benefits of cross-sectoral collaboration in research and innovation to better respond to current and emerging health needs.
The programme aims to build a more collaborative ecosystem for pharmaceutical research and development in Europe and to speed up the development of more effective and safer medicines for patients. The Innovative Medicines Initiative aims to improve the health and well-being of all European citizens. With a 2 billion euro budget in the period from 2008 to 2013, IMI1 was the biggest life science public-private partnership in the world, with a major contribution from the pharmaceutical industry. IMI2, which covers the period from 2014 to 2024, will be financed with 1.65 billion euros by the European Commission, 1.42 billion euros by the pharmaceutical industry, and 213 million by other life science industries. Janssen does not receive any funding via IMI, but we do invest in this project.
IMI facilitates collaboration between the key players involved in healthcare research, including universities, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators. It is a partnership between the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and the European pharmaceutical industry (represented by EFPIA, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations)
The initiative has made important steps towards accessing and using real-world evidence for pharmaceutical research and development, and for healthcare decision-making. Several projects have contributed to a better understanding of the causes of diseases, and some are already delivering results, such as a vaccine against Ebola virus. The initiative has also significantly contributed to building capacity and resources for open use by the broader research and innovation community.
IMI’s goals:
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, innovative medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. It does this by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in healthcare research, including universities, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators. IMI is a partnership between the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and the European pharmaceutical industry (represented by EFPIA, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations).
