BE2 - Vlaams Gewest / Flanders Region

Innovation Performance Group (2019) : Strong +

Total population (2019) 6,596,233

Population per km² (2017) 487

Proportion population older 65 year % 20,20%

Background

Flanders has showcased as a region with great potential in the pharmaceutical market. The region is characterised by exceptionally rapid approval times for clinical trials and puts heavy emphasis on biotech R&D, through a well-developed ecosystem of startups, SMEs and larger international companies. Different strategic research centra (VIB, imec, VITO) focus on aspects related to personalised medicine and work on the valorisation of their research.

Personalised medicine is furthermore one of the priorities in Flanders' smart specialisation strategy. In this light, Flanders is one of the leading regions in the smart specialisation partnership on personalised medicine (S3P4PM) and coordinator of the SAPHIRe project.

Is the region looking for international/European/interregional collaboration opportunities?

Yes - S3 partnerships

Membership status

Member ICPerMed? no

Mountain ? Non-mountain

Member Euregha? yes

Adriatic-Ionian MacroRegion? no

InnoStars Region? no

Northern Sparsely Populated Area (NSPA)? no

PM region according EC? yes

Baltic Sea MacroRegion? no

S3MedTech region? yes

Danube MacroRegion? no

S3P4PM region? yes

Alpine MacroRegion? no

Regions4PM region? no

ERAPerMed? no

Central Europe? no

MedTech4Europe? no

Council of European BioRegions (CEBR)? yes

1M+Genome initiative? country level member

European Regions Research & Innovation Network (ERRIN)? yes

Vanguard Initiative? yes

S3ClusSport member? yes

Policy documents

Regional level: Vlaamse Beleidsplan Gepersonaliseerde Geneeskunde
Regional level: Vlaanderen in transitie
Regional press release: SAPHIRe
National action plan eHealth

Topics covered In policies : Medical research and innovation (-omics, biomarkers, diagnostics, etc.); Education, training and skill development; Prediction and prevention; ICT/genomics, health, lifestyle data(infrastructure); Electronic and mobile health solutions; Value based healthcare; Public awareness, patient participation with respect to Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health

Funding programmes or other support measures:

NACE Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health related to Research and Innovation objectives:

C - Manufacturing; C.21 - Basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations; M - Professional, scientific and technical activities

Scientific domain NABS Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health related to Research and Innovation: NABS07 - Health

Policy objective Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health related related to Research and Innovation objectives: G - Public health & security; G.49 - Public health & well-being; I - Social innovation; I.59 - Social innovation with regard to health, well-being & elder care

Policy document (RIS3): Yes

Policy document PM@RIS3: Yes

Major initiatives

Is the region represented in: Horizon2020; Regional Smart Specialisation Strategy Platforms/Partnerships (RIS3); EIT Health/InnoStars/Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS); other?

Organisations in Flanders

Self evaluation

General perception of the implementation level of PM in the region - Medium

Rate of the need for developing and implementing PM in the region - Very High

Rate of the need for increasing support/funding for PM activities in the region - High

Rate of the need for increasing the capacity of PM skills in the region - High

Rate of the genomics literacy of the citizens in the region - Medium

Rate of the need for increasing interregional collaboration in PM - Medium

Memberships

European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN)

Image attribution

By Blank map of Europe (with disputed regions).svg: maix¿?derivative work: Alphathon - This file was derived from: Blank map of Europe (with disputed regions).svg:, CC BY-SA 3.0,