August 5th, 2019
The Council of Ministers has authorized this Friday to the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) the call for granting grants for independent clinical research projects for the year 2019 of the Strategic Action in Health 2017-2020. The objective of this call is to answer relevant clinical questions for patients, their families and Spanish biomedical researchers. For this, 15 million euros will be invested in clinical research with advanced therapies (cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue engineering), orphan drugs, pharmacogenetics, reduction of resistance to antibiotics and study of pathologies that especially affect vulnerable populations, among other areas. Another goal is to ensure the sustainability of the National Health System (SNS) and to guarantee access to innovative high-priced drugs.
The beneficiary entities of the call will be the Health Research Institutes accredited by the ISCIII, a total of 31 centers located in Spanish hospitals in 12 autonomous communities, in which 162 institutions such as health centers, universities, agents of the Health Administration, companies participate. , public research organizations such as the Higher Council for Scientific Research, etc. In this way, the synergies established in the SNS and the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System are reinforced.
The clinical trials of this call will be designed to explore aspects far from economic benefit, but relevant in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of human diseases, especially those that can only be faced from the public sphere. For this reason, the call wants to put the benefit of the patient at the center of applied biomedical research, eliminating immediate economic interests when establishing the social priorities of the research.
In the process of selecting proposals, scientific staff, patient representatives and experts from the state and regional administrations in charge of applying the conclusions of these clinical trials in the SNS will work together for the first time. A cross-sectional and multidisciplinary selection committee has been designed that will make it possible to prioritize the questions based on the concerns of patients and their families, clarify them with the scientific prism and work on their implementation through the participation of the administrations. With the incorporation of patients, the ISCIII follows the principle of responsible research and innovation that is being promoted within the European research area.
The financing of 15 million represents the largest investment made for this objective in the last 10 years. Since 2009 there has only been one call for independent clinical trials, in 2014, of a much lower amount; In 2018, the initiative was restricted to a therapeutic modality and also had a lower budget than this year.
This call is aligned with the general objectives of the Strategic Action in Health 2017-2020: promoting the health and well-being of citizens and developing the preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative and palliative aspects of the disease, reinforcing and increasing international competitiveness of biomedical R + D + i of the National Health System and of companies related to the health sector.
