In 2019, the European Commission launched a consultation of EU Member States on possible candidates for so called European Partnerships in the 9th European framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe.

Among others, the European Commission proposed to set up a European Partnership on Personalised Medicine, with the aim to align priority setting and funding for research projects in the area of personalised medicine between the EU Member States, regions and associated countries as well as international partner countries.

ICPerMed highly supports a European Partnership on Personalised Medicine within Horizon Europe, as already noted in a joint statement with ERA PerMed in December 2019.

The statement outlines that a European Partnership on Personalised Medicine will accelerate the communication between and decisions taken by all key players and institutions in the field of personalised medicine. This will contribute to optimising research and implementation efforts for personalised medicine approaches in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. By including ministries and funding bodies as well as relevant institutions, organisations and initiatives, a European Partnership on Personalised Medicine promotes the exchange of ideas and experiences within a growing ICPerMed 'Family' to further evolve the concept and success of personalised medicine and to promote economic value and fair access for all citizens to the best possible healthcare. Furthermore, a strategy is needed to tackle additional crucial aspects as broader interoperable scientific and clinical use of data, patient and citizen involvement and empowerment, as well as educational aspects related to personalised medicine.

The future partnership aims to link the setting of policy recommendations by ICPerMed  and the funding of research and implementation via joint calls. It will contribute to the implementation of the ICPerMed Action Plan  as well as the recently published ICPerMed Vision Paper  through co-funded activities by the European Commission and the EU Member States.

The partnership will coordinate research efforts of the participating partners from EU Member States, regions and third countries. The main focus should be the creation of synergies between (inter-)national and regional programmes/strategies and the implementation of a common action plan.

The European Partnership on Personalised Medicine is supposed to start in mid-2023 and will be based on an updated strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) drawing on the experiences and expertise from ICPerMed, ERA PerMed and other related initiatives and projects.