By Eva Molero, Founder and CEO at Teamit Research
2020 will go down in history as the year that placed biomedical research in the spotlight like never before, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This global health emergency has incited extraordinary levels of collaboration amongst a multiplicity of partners worldwide sending a powerful message to the world: together we can go further, faster. Research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, international organisations, regulators, or governments have worked hand in hand to advance on a swift response to the current pandemic. It is only to hope that this collective effort will set a powerful precedent that will reinforce the paradigm of public private alliances as a means of fostering innovative health research, essential for responding to global challenges in the future. Our vision of “Partnerships for Better Health Research” supports this approach.
At an internal level, 2020 has seen major events: Teamit birth, the company joining the Barcelona Health Hub (BHH) and a significant increase in our operational capacity and workforce. Last spring, we became members of the BHH, an association created to foster synergies and innovation in digital health which integrates a large pool of leading organisations from the private and public sector. To continue delivering excellence in our expanding portfolio of projects and services, our team of professionals has grown considerably from the initial 6 to the 12 members we are now. We have engaged new talent and expertise in biomedical research, pharmacovigilance, project management, communication and sustainability. To accommodate our growing team, in July we opened our offices in the stunning Art Noveau site of Sant Pau, declared UNESCO World Heritage in 1997.
During 2020, we have been involved in the development of new research proposals, together with the configuration of international consortia in large multi-disciplinary projects and initiatives across Europe. Furthermore, autumn saw the kick-off of H2O and PREMIER, two new IMI funded projects in which Teamit participates bringing in its expertise in project and risk management, governance, sustainability, and communication. The EU-ADR Alliance, of which Teamit is a member, has made a qualitative leap forward with the start of two post-authorisation studies, managed by our Partnerships team. Furthermore, we have reached an agreement with VAC4EU to support their activity on vaccine monitoring in Europe. Finally, we have developed our strategic plan, reinforced our internal procedures and adopted innovative tools to deliver first rate operational strategies.
This next year will see the implementation of Horizon Europe, EU’s Research and Innovation framework program. We will strive to further enhance our operational capacity and expertise to reinforce existing and future alliances in life-sciences research, as active members of the European Research Ecosystem. No matter the challenges that lay head, we are more determined than ever in our endeavour to support better health research through collaborative international partnerships with an excellence focused approach.
