In Silico in Innovation – again!
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has released its second wave of “start-up champions” to receive funding for innovations through the EIC Accelerator. The EIC Accelerator is an initiative to fund and invest in start-ups and small companies to both develop and up scale innovations.
EIC funding is open to any type of project or application – which makes it all the more exciting that, in this second wave, an in silico project as received funding! Qubit Pharmaceuticals, a French start-up, has received funding for its ATLAS project, which aims to use a high performance computing drug discovery platform based on the latest advances in HPC and quantum computing.
This in an of itself is a win for in silico recognition – and another clear sign that the innovation and research branches of the European Union are excited about in silico medicine. Beyond the funding of this project, the EIC – which accepts applications at any time – specifically recognizes the importance of strategic digital and health technologies, with some funding targeted only at innovations focused on this topic. Of course, computer modelling and simulation is a perfect match for strategic digital and health technology innovation.
Seeing in silico continually recognized by EU research funds means that it is indeed an exciting time for the Avicenna Alliance, and for the potential of in silico medicine to positively impact our current healthcare systems.