Luxembourg invests in biomedical research

The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg announced on June 5, 2008 the implementation of a strategic partnership initiative with three U.S. research institutions. As part of the initiative, the Government will invest approximately 140 million euros over the next five years as it aims to develop a centre of expertise in the area of molecular medicine.

Such initiative is centred on key strategic partnerships with three world-renowned research institutions with expertise in this field: the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, led by Dr Jeffrey Trent, the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, led by Dr Leroy Hood and the Partnership for Personalized Medicine (PPM) led by Dr Leland H. Hartwell. In carrying out this initiative, the Government counts on the support of the Public Research Centers (CRP), Santé, Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann, in addition to the University of Luxembourg, all of which were closely involved in the setting-up phase. In this context, it should be noted that the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement (SNCI) has set up a limited “health technologies facility”, to help co-finance for profit ventures in this area of activity.

The projects focus notably on increasing research in the field of molecular diagnosis, which is the cornerstone of personalised medicine. Personalised medicine is based on improved prevention, targeted screening, early diagnosis and treatment of the causes of illness with drugs based on the individual's genetic and biological make up, i.e., drugs targeted and suited to each patient. Ultimately, this is expected to result in great improvements in the ability to administer the right drug to the right patient at the right time and in the right dose.

This initiative concretises the Government’s 2004 programme, whose main priorities were to set up centres of scientific and technological excellence, to help diversify the Luxembourg economic fabric by promoting research activities, particularly in biotechnology, and to develop preventive medicine.

Three Complementary Projects

The centrepiece of the overall project is the creation of a Luxembourg “biobank”, in partnership with the Translational Genomics Research Institute, under the name the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL). Open to European and international cooperations, this biobank will initially focus its efforts on collecting and analysing biological samples (tissue, blood, etc.) and the related data for purposes of supporting oncology research (lung and colon cancers).

IBBL’s efforts will be underpinned by leading biotechnology and bioinformatics capabilities.

The biobank, to be founded by the three Public Research Centres and the University, will meet the strictest international standards in ethics and data-protection. This organisation intends to ultimately promote and facilitate national and international research projects, including the research projects of Dr. Hartwell and Dr. Hood; to advance translational research, i.e. the implementation of recent research findings into medical practice; and to serve as a catalyst to transform research findings into tools for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The second part of the agreement deals with a partnership between the Institute for Systems Biology and the University of Luxembourg. The project aims to establish in Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Public Research Centres, a centre of excellence in systems biology – Centre for Systems Biology Luxembourg (CSBL) - within five years. The first phase of this research project deals with genome sequencing, particularly the study of genetic systems; the second phase deals with molecular fingerprinting (using blood proteins) of body's main organs. This research initiative will focus on better understanding the disorders in organisms in the event of illness, for detection and follow-up purposes. The project also contains a major technological component focused on the development and integration of tools used in genomics (the study of genomes), proteomics (the study of proteins) and bioinformatics (the application of computer techniques to biology).

The third and last project is a pilot project with the Partnership for Personalized Medicine (PPM), an initiative launched in Phoenix in 2007 by two philanthropic foundations and spearheaded by Dr. Lee Hartwell, 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine. Its goal is to advance research in personalised medicine by pursuing research projects focused on developing molecular diagnostics for specific diseases. These research projects centre on the selection and validation of biomarkers to more effectively diagnose and manage disease, from early detection through therapeutic follow-up. The Luxembourg project will focus its efforts on lung cancer, for which currently there are virtually no cures, due to the lack of reliable tools for early detection (approximately 180 persons die annually from lung cancer in Luxembourg). This project will be implemented through a research partnership between the PPM and CRP-Santé.

For the three ministers who are behind this joint initiative – Jeannot Krecké, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade; François Biltgen, Minister for Culture, Higher Education and Research; and Mars Di Bartolomeo, Minister of Health – this strategic partnership between Luxembourg’s research institutes and renowned U.S. research organisations is a unique opportunity to:

• develop a centre of expertise that will increase research efforts in the Grand Duchy and strengthen both national effects and international influence;
• favor economic diversification in a cutting-edge and fast-growing sector by developing such expertise;
• and serve the interests of the general population as the healthcare system could greatly benefit from the research findings.