In July, the Palau de la Generalitat hosted the launch of PRECISEU, an ambitious project led by Biocat under the Horizon Europe program. To accelerate adoption of personalized medicine, which is key to transforming the European healthcare system, the project brings together 25 partners from 12 European regions, including 10 European Union member states and Ukraine as an associated country.
Catalonia has emerged as the region with the most participation. On top of being coordinated by Biocat, the project also involves noteworthy organizations like the Catalan Ministry of Health, ACCIÓ, Barcelona Supercomputing Center and pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca. This representation reaffirms the region’s role as a driving force for healthcare innovation in Europe. PRECISEU (PeRsonalised medicine Empowerment Connecting Innovation ecoSystems across Europe) has a budget of €23 million and will be executed over five years.
Despite still being in the early stages, PRECISEU has already consolidated partnerships among European regions and laid the groundwork for a more efficient, technologically advanced healthcare system. Below are ten highlights achieved so far:
10 key milestones from the first six months
1. Catalonia awarded RIV seal
Europe has awarded Catalonia the prestigious Regional Innovation Valley (RIV) seal thanks to its leadership of PRECISEU. This seal recognizes the potential and capacity of the Catalan innovation ecosystem to drive advances in science and technology with a Europe-wide impact.
2. First Regional Innovation Valley (RIV) of Horizon Europe
The project has been a turning point in European collaboration, receiving the first Regional Innovation Valley (RIV) designation of the Horizon Europe program, co-funded by the European Commission. Biocat was the first organization to sign the contract with the European Commission.
3. Transversal collaboration among RIV projects
Within this leadership as a RIV, Biocat received support from the European Commission and EISMEA to host a session for the five Horizon Europe RIV projects to share ideas, get answers to questions and exchange best practices for the funding calls scheduled for the coming years.
The meet-up helped strengthen cooperation and forge synergies among the projects, further promoting the overall success of Horizon Europe.
4. Participation in important Europe forums
Over these months, PRECISEU took part in important internationally renowned debate and collaboration spaces:
- Special session hosted by RIMA, a task force made up of several units of the European Commission.
- Active participation in the European Week of Regions and Cities.
- Extraordinary meeting of the Regional Innovation Valley Program Committee.
- Contributions to the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe.
5. New visual image to connect and communicate
PRECISEU has created a clear, attractive graphic identity designed to communicate and bring the project to society. It includes a logo, templates and adapted materials to ensure coherent communication. This image can be seen on the official website and social media (LinkedIn), making it easier to raise awareness of the project aims and progress.
6. First European map of advanced therapies
One of the most noteworthy successes so far has been a map that will reflect the development and market access of advanced therapies throughout Europe, with information on the technologies available, capacities throughout the value chain, regulatory frameworks, safety standards, and other key aspects for implementation. This work, led by EATRIS, aims to create the first pan-European map of advanced therapies capacities.
7. Connections with key European initiatives
PRECISEU has established and reinforced collaborations with the main European initiatives in this arena. One of these is TEHDAS2, an emblematic project paving the road for the European Health Data Space. The project has also worked with EP PerMed, another great Europe initiative that aims to accelerate implementation of personalized medicine throughout Europe.
8. Identification of EHDS interoperability challenges
The consortium is working on a detailed analysis of how prepared each region and Member State is to implement the European Health Data Space (EHDS). With a transferrable maturity matrix as its analysis tool, the consortium is compiling homogeneous, comparable information to assess the regulatory, technological and organizational frameworks in the regions involved in the project.
9. Leading Scientific Advisory Board in personalized medicine
The consortium has designated a group of top-notch professionals to advise on the project, aligning PRECISEU with widespread trends and international initiatives, and contributing to a strategy for the five years of the project and the future of the sector. They are important figures and global benchmarks in personalized medicine and healthcare innovation whose names will be revealed soon in an official announcement.
10. Internal structure consolidated
In just six months, PRECISEU has consolidated robust internal coordination, laying the groundwork for effective, fluid collaboration among the 25 project partners. This organizational advance has been key to ensuring the program will be carried out efficiently, allowing the consortium to generate results quickly and easily that are clearly in line with the goals set. Support from specialized companies like TeamIt and WeDo has been key in this process.
Next actions to continue driving personalized medicine in Europe
The next few months will be key to advancing the project and helping accelerate personalized medicine. Here’s a look at the main actions that will be presented in the first half of this year:
1. PRECISEU award for best practices in personalized medicine
The call will be launched in the coming weeks to recognize noteworthy initiatives in terms of impact, excellence, innovation and culture. The awards will be given out at the General Assembly in September 2025 in Vilnius at Life Sciences Baltics, one of the most important conferences for the sector in Europe.
2. International Hackathon in Barcelona to tackle global healthcare challenges
The Sahlgrenska Global Health Hackathon will be held in Barcelona on February 22 and 23, 2025, to promote joint action to tackle global healthcare challenges. This international event that will be held in nine locations in six countries (including cities in Europe, the USA and Singapore) will be held in Barcelona at the end of BHIW. It is a great action for healthcare innovation, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals from the sector to work together to develop innovative solutions to the biggest healthcare challenges in the world.
If you’re interested in taking part, it’s not too late!
3. €11 million in grants for innovation projects
PRECISEU has kicked off an ambitious plan to earmark more than €11 million to fund innovation projects to advance from TRL6 to TRL8. These grants, which will be awarded to European organizations and companies, will focus on strategic areas like advanced therapies, data management and personalized medicine, with a clearly transnational approach.
The consortium is currently putting the finishing touches on the call, adjusting it to the needs detected and interest shown by companies in the sector.
4. Training programs
Another important advance is the ‘Biocat Design Thinking for Policymakers Program’, an initiative that will take place under the framework of PRECISEU and other projects. This program, inspired by the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Policy Fellowship, will take place over three weeks to train policymakers at the intersection of health policy and technological innovation. The first edition is planned for September 2025, just after the first ‘PRECISEU Summer School on Personalized Medicine’ for innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and clinical professionals in the field, to move towards greater integration of personalized medicine in healthcare systems.
