B2H is active in 2 different projects. Discover more here.
ONCOCARE PROJECT
Interreg is one of the key instruments of the European Union (EU) supporting cooperation across borders through project funding. Its aim is to jointly tackle common challenges and find shared solutions in fields such as health, environment, research, education, transport, sustainable energy and more. The current programme is called Interreg V and covers the period 2014-2020.
Interreg project – OncoCare
The care of cancer patients is a growing challenge for our society. Despite decisive innovations in prevention and treatment, new cases and new diseases are increasing with population aging. In addition, the rapid progress in research continuously creates new areas of specialization. The patient can therefore only benefit from the best possible care if the centers cooperate or share their knowledge and expertise.
Partners
In addition to Bridge2Health (B2H), OncoCare brings together 7 other partners: the oncology centers of Belgian, Dutch and German hospitals, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (CHU de Liège – lead partner), Jessa Ziekenhuis Hasselt (Jessa), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC +) and RWTH Aachen (UKA-RWTH), as well as the Universities of Liège (ULiège), Maastricht (MU) and Aachen (UKA-ECCA).
Objective and purpose
The aim of the OncoCare project is to improve the quality of cancer care throughout the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. The cross-border cooperation is intended to facilitate the access to innovative therapeutic approaches and personalized medicine against cancer. These objectives will be achieved by the implementation of various measures, structured in 3 actions:
- Patient-centered medicine:
In order to promote the exchange of medical expertise between hospitals, a teleconsulting network will be developed (possibility of soliciting colleagues’ and experts’ opinions to agree on an optimal therapy). The second activity is to implement an application collecting the perception of patients on the quality of their care in order to assess the impact of therapeutic decisions on the latter. The third action will set-up a home hospitalization network to bring oncological carer to patients’ home environment. - Quality of care:
Partners wish to improve the management of the quality of care by obtaining accreditations (e.g. European JACIE accreditation), by harmonizing cancer registries and by developing a software to manage all steps of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. - Access to innovative treatments:
One of the objectives is the implementation of personalized and innovative cancer medicine in the Euregio. This will be achieved through the development of a tool of international guidelines in terms of diagnosis and treatment to standardize the care pathways between the centers and to improve medical practices. A clinical trials database will also be created, thus informing patients and healthcare professionals about studies carried out in the Euregio in oncology.
Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine programme
The OncoCare project is a part of the Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine Program (https://www.interregemr.eu/about-interreg), a European Union funding program that addresses disparities between regions and encourages cross-border collaboration. Its objective is the economic, social and territorial development of Europe’s regions.
Interreg is managed by the European Commission’s Directorate for Regional and Urban Policy (https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/erdf/) and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/regional-and-urban-policy_en).
For more information, visit the OncoCare project website (ajouter le lien www.oncocare.eu).
H2020 PROJECT – BIOCYCLE[1]
The objective of the BIOCYCLE project is to assess long-term treatment strategies in Crohn’s disease that will improve both safety and related costs while ensuring a constant level of efficacy during maintenance therapy.
Partners
The BIOCYCLE Project involves a consortium between 14 partners: CHU de Liège (coordinator of the project), (GETAID), UEDIN, SKANE, CHARITE, SHEBA, AFA, CCFA, IBDIM, UGOT, INSERM, UCL, B2H, OXFORD
Objective and purpose
Crohn’s disease is a chronic longstanding disease that can’t be cured with current available treatments. The aim of long-term treatment is to fully control the symptoms and avoid the progression of intestinal damage. Currently, the preferred strategy for moderate-severe disease is a combination therapy with anti-TNFα and anti-metabolites (immunosuppressant). This long-term treatment may lead to cost and safety issues. The BIOCYCLE action will assess the efficacy, safety, effectiveness and feasibility of either anti-TNFα or immunosuppressant withdrawal in those patients thanks to several actions:
- SPARE clinical trial, a three arms controlled clinical trial comparing continuous combination therapy with anti-TNF and antimetabolites (Combo Therapy) to anti-TNF withdrawal and to anti-metabolites withdrawal, in patients with moderate-severe Crohn’s disease, having reached long-term sustained remission under Combo Therapy
- Development of a health-economic model, evaluating health economics impact of treatment cycle with comparative cost-of-illness and cost-effectiveness calculations between the 3 arms of the SPARE study
- Patients’ and doctors’ surveys, performed in Europe and USA, assessing the acceptance vs. reluctance in terms of readiness to use treatment cycles during remission
- BIOCYCLE clinical and non-clinical data synthesis, analysis and assessment, to measure the relevance and the degree of readiness to transfer the treatment cycle concept to healthcare decision makers
- Preparation of a decision-making tool and corresponding guidelines to elect the best treatment option based on specific needs.
H2020 program
Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global competitiveness. By coupling research and innovation, H2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges.
For more information, visit the BIOCYCLE project website (ajouter le lien www.biocycle.eu).
Co-financers
[1] This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633168 – BIOCYCLE (PHC-13-2014).