New clinical test network created in Poland

The universities cooperating with EIT Health, the Medical University of Lodz and the Medical University of Gdansk, will co-shape the first Clinical Research Support Centres in Poland. The newly created network is a sizeable asset not only to R&D and clinical testing in Poland, but also to the EIT Health network.

While 2020 will be remembered mostly for the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, it will be also remembered as a time of great urgency in the healthcare community, and acceleration of development processes in healthcare across Europe. “The mobilization to focus all efforts on combating the pandemic is outstanding,” said recently, during EIT Health Think Tank 2020 event, Piotr Dardzinski, the President of Poland’s Lukasiewicz Research Network, a government-run network of 33 R&D institutes, which has just officially joined EIT Health as a Partner.

New clinical test network opens new possibilities for the EIT Health network

The mobilization and urgency have yielded yet another tangible result in healthcare. Poland’s Medical Research Agency has just announced the creation of a network of 10 Clinical Research Support Centres (CWBK). The initiative, worth approximately €30 mln intends to coordinate medical trials and standardize trial procedures, aiming at uniformed quality standards allowing for comparable results.

Ten institutions were selected to spearhead the pioneer project. Among competition winners, two stand out: the Medical University of Gdansk (EIT Health Hub) and the Medical University of Lodz, a long-time EIT Health Core Partner. “Being part of the research network, means, for both the Medical University of Gdansk and the Medical University of Lodz, having better equipped and specialized labs along with significant test bed capacity. This is also a clear asset to a wider EIT Health network. Moreover, these two will be better prepared to cooperate with international partners and start-ups. Being part of the research network increases their capacity to perform various forms of clinical trials, especially the non-commercial ones,” comments Mikolaj Gurdala, InnoStars Manager. According to the Medical Research Agency President, Radoslaw Sierpinski, MD PhD, clinical research in Poland is underdeveloped and offers untapped potential to grow about threefold, considering the size of Poland’s population.

The newly created network of 10 Clinical Research Support Centres in Poland consists of:

1. Medical University of Gdansk
2. Medical University of Lodz
3. Poznan Medical University
4. Wroclaw Medical University
5. Bialystok Medical University
6. Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw
7. National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation in Warsaw
8. The Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw
9. The Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw
10. Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute – Oncology Centre in Gliwice