TransBioNet: Nearly €2 Million Horizon Europe Project to Bring Biomedical Research Closer to Investment Readiness

TransBioNet, a new initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, has been launched to help promising biomedical research across Europe progress towards investment readiness. The nearly €2 million project brings together seven partners from six countries to establish the first pan-European network of knowledge valorisation intermediaries fully dedicated to drug discovery and biomedical innovation.

Through shared assessment tools, training, cross-border collaboration, and two Open Calls, TransBioNet will support early-stage drug discovery projects. Furthermore, the project will address fragmented access to specialised expertise and research facilities. These measures are needed because Europe has a world-class biomedical research base, yet too many promising drug discovery initiatives struggle to progress towards becoming investable projects, further development and market uptake. The challenge is not a lack of scientific excellence, but a fragmented translational ecosystem in which valorisation practices remain dispersed, academia-industry-investor hubs often lack critical mass, and access to specialised support is uneven across countries and regions.

In drug discovery, this gap is particularly difficult to overcome. According to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), bringing a new medicine to market takes on average more than 10 years, with research and development costs often exceeding €3 billion and success rates as low as just one to two compounds for every 10,000 tested. Amid growing competition, Europe’s share of global commercial drug trials fell by 10 percentage points between 2013 and 2023. 

Coordinated by Associação AccelBio in Portugal, TransBioNet will address this translation gap between laboratory discoveries and marketable therapies by building a European network of knowledge valorisation intermediaries: Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), clusters, incubators, accelerators and innovation managers. These organisations and professionals connect academic research with SMEs, industry and investors, and help to evaluate intellectual property, assess early-stage assets, navigate regulatory requirements and identify funding opportunities. 

“Promising drug discovery projects should not be limited by where they are based or by how easily they can reach the right people, facilities and partners,” said Bárbara Gomes, CEO of Associação AccelBio and TransBioNet Project Coordinator. “With TransBioNet, we want to make cross-border collaboration more practical for early biomedical innovation, so that strong ideas can be assessed, de-risked and connected with the guidance they need to reach the next stage of development.” 

To translate this network into practical support, TransBioNet will develop shared digital tools, training resources, and policy recommendations. Two consortium partners, Danish Life Science Cluster and Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria, will jointly lead ecosystem mapping and stakeholder consultations. Their findings will feed into the TransBioNet Charter, drafted and validated by InnoStars with contributions from all partners. The Charter will set out shared principles and policy recommendations for supporting early-stage drug discovery across Europe, while strengthening alignment with European and national innovation strategies and the objectives of the EU Biotech Act. 

The TransBioNet Digital Platform will serve as a one-stop hub for learning, matchmaking and project assessment. EATRIS ERIC will lead its development, drawing on its European network of translational research institutions. Associação AccelBio will lead the development of the Valorisation Assessment Toolkit to support more standardised evaluations of early-stage projects, while Biocant Park will coordinate the European Infrastructure Atlas, mapping research infrastructures and services relevant to biomedical translation across Europe. 

Alongside these tools, the Digital Training Academy and Community of Practice will strengthen peer learning, mobility and collaboration among intermediaries. Associação AccelBio will lead the Academy’s development, while LithuaniaBio will coordinate cross-border secondments to support skills and knowledge exchange between European ecosystems. 

“Navigating the complex landscape of biomedical translation requires better access to scientific expertise, advanced facilities, regulatory guidance and practical assessment tools,” said Cansu Tekin, Innovation Manager, EATRIS ERIC, leading the development of TransBioNet’s Digital Platform. “By integrating the Valorisation Assessment Toolkit and the European Infrastructure Atlas into a single digital environment, TransBioNet will give intermediaries and early-stage innovators a clearer set of tools to help evaluate, de-risk and progress drug discovery assets more efficiently.” 

Beyond building shared tools and training resources, TransBioNet will test its approach through two Open Calls for early-stage drug discovery projects, targeting research organisations, academic teams, SMEs and start-ups with validated targets or identified compounds. The scheme will select 12 projects for a 12-month acceleration programme featuring tailored mentoring, bootcamps, access to mapped infrastructures and services, and visibility through the TransBioNet platform. The three highest-ranked projects in each call are also planned to receive direct financial support for validation experiments. 

“Building shared tools is only part of the task. TransBioNet is also designed to engage the wider biomedical innovation ecosystem and create tangible results beyond the consortium,” said Szilárd Szobol, Managing Director of InnoStars, which leads the TransBioNet project’s work on Open Calls, communication and dissemination activities. “Through the Open Calls, we will support promising early-stage drug-discovery projects coming from European start-ups or academia to accelerate their biomedical discoveries into clinical and societal impact.” 

Regional inclusivity is built into this model. The selected Open Call projects are intended to include teams from Widening countries and under-represented regions, giving these teams access to expertise, services and specialised facilities beyond their local ecosystems. 

The TransBioNet consortium brings together seven organisations from six countries, combining expertise in biomedical valorisation, drug discovery, research infrastructures, innovation support, training and technology transfer. Coordinated by Associação Accelbio in Portugal, it includes Biocant Park, also based in Portugal; EATRIS ERIC in the Netherlands; EIT Health InnoStars e.V. in Germany; Danish Life Science Cluster in Denmark; Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria; and LithuaniaBio in Lithuania. 

About TransBioNet 

TransBioNet (Accelerating Biomedical Translation through a European Network of Knowledge Valorisation Intermediaries) is a 36-month Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action coordinated by Associação Accelbio in Portugal. Bringing together seven partners from six countries,  it supports early-stage drug discovery by strengthening cooperation between research, innovation support organisations, industry and investors.