OSASUNBERRI, a collaborative initiative for innovation and investment in the Km 0 health industry and in a cutting-edge healthcare system

A total of 25 companies from the Basque Country and Navarre, together with the Basque Health Cluster and ASEBIO, are collaborating in this project with the aim of joining forces and strengthening the Km 0 health industry, as well as the health care system, and thus achieving effective, comprehensive and sustainable management of the current pandemic and other future pandemics.
OSASUNBERRI combines four areas of action, to develop comprehensive solutions from pre- and post-infection diagnosis, to cellular and pharmacological therapies to reduce or mitigate the effects of infection, and innovation and investment in the healthcare field, all supported by transversal actions in sustainability, digitalisation, knowledge protection, etc.
With a direct budget of 142 million euros, the project is aligned with the strategic objectives of the Next Generation funds, generating jobs and investment in infrastructure and research, and fostering entrepreneurship and regional development.

This week saw the presentation of OSASUNBERRI, an interregional collaborative initiative for innovation and investment in the Km 0 health industry, which aims to join forces, create synergies and strengthen this sector in order to achieve effective, comprehensive and sustainable management of emerging risks in the field of health, such as the one experienced by COVID-19.

The 27 entities participating in the collaborative initiative took part in this presentation together with the Basque Government’s Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapia, and the Navarre Government’s Minister for Economic and Business Development, Mikel Irujo.

OSASUNBERRI brings together a group of companies, technology centres and associations that aims to make the most of the great experience they have to form a large working group covering all aspects related to the management of emergency situations, and fundamentally to strengthen the value chain of the health industry in terms of diagnosis and therapies, also integrating the health care network.

This group brings together 17 companies, of which 15 are SMEs and 2 are large pharmaceutical corporations, 5 hospitals, 3 scientific-technological organisations and 2 sectoral associations.

OSASUNBERRI’s challenge is to strengthen the local health sector and operate with a “Km 0” philosophy.

The project is aligned with the strategic objectives set out in the recovery plan for Europe, Next Generation. This project focuses on the aspects of reindustrialisation, seeking the reactivation of the surrounding productive industry; sustainability, thanks to its “Km 0” approach, eco-design and orientation towards the circular economy, and digitalisation, as it will work on the development of connected products and in the cloud, the exploitation of Big Data and the promotion of e-Health.

The objectives of OSASUNBERRI focus on four aspects: the industrial tractor effect, sectoral integration of the value chain, inter-regionality, and the exploitation of synergies in knowledge and professional experience.

his global project has a budget of more than 142 million euros over four years, in which 2022 and 2023 will capture most of the total.

This initiative will generate a direct impact focused on the generation of some 300 jobs, attracting investment in production and innovation infrastructures, increasing the turnover of participating companies, investment in R&D and the creation of start-ups in the sector.

With regard to the indirect impact expected to be caused, OSASUNBERRI will have an impact in three areas: the investments induced thanks to the traction that the project will exert, estimated at around 400 million euros; the boost to technological entrepreneurship in the area; and regional industrial development, with the strengthening of the industrial and productive sector in the area.

Four main objectives

The nature of OSASUNBERRI as a collaborative initiative for the health sector includes the following strategic objectives focused on four aspects:
Industrial tractor effect, with the generation of jobs, creation of new companies and promotion of entrepreneurship and whose return will translate into the strengthening of the surrounding health industry.
Sectoral integration of the value chain, ranging from diagnosis and prevention of diseases, to therapies and pharmacological treatments of different types, healthcare, including actors in the ancillary industry and those more transversal agents of innovation.
Interregionality, as entities located in the Basque Country, Navarre and Madrid participate in collaboration, with a local service approach.
To create synergies in knowledge and professional experiences.

A total of 27 participants covering the entire scope of action of the sector

This is an interregional project involving 17 companies, of which 15 are SMEs and 2 are large corporations; 5 hospitals; 3 scientific-technological entities; and 2 sectoral associations. It is a consortium led and coordinated by BIOLAN MICROBIOSENSORES, and also includes the following entities: ASEBIO, ASUNCION KLINIKA, BASQUE HEALTH CLUSTER, BIOLAN HEALTH, C4E CONSULTING, CIC BioGUNE, CINFA, DHEMEN DESIGN, FAES FARMA, GALBAIAN, GOGOA MOBILITY ROBOTS, HISTOCELL, HOSPITAL AITA MENNI, IMQ, IKERLAT POLYMERS, INNOPROT, LAZPIUR, MIKROBIOMIK, MIZAR ADDITIVE, NARU INTELLIGENCE SOLUTIONS, P4Q ELECTRONICS, LARRAÑAGA PLÁSTICOS, QUIRÓN SALUD, TECNALIA, TEKNIKER and VITHAS.

All of them are specialised organisations that place their knowledge and experience at the service of a common initiative to achieve viable, competitive and efficient solutions for situations of maximum social interest, such as the current pandemic, but which, beyond the present, will work together to achieve a health industry and a strengthened and competitive healthcare system.

The integration of all these participants in OSASUNBERRI allows for an ambitious global approach, as it involves the areas of research, technological development, industrial design, manufacturing, certification, intellectual protection, trend analysis, technology watch and dissemination.

Four areas of action and resulting products

OSASUNBERRI has an integrated and multiple approach that covers everything from diagnosis to therapy, from prevention to the containment of contagion, towards a sustainable and advanced care system. From the development of technologies to the implementation of new manufacturing capacities; from the monitoring of competitive trends to the protection of intellectual and industrial property, all in the context of sustainability and digitalisation.

Thus, it acts in four areas of action:

OSASUNTEST, focused on detection and diagnosis through the development and manufacture of tests and the whole range of products required: test materials and components, test strips, swabs, optical and electrochemical readers, manufacturing machinery, etc.
OSASUNTHERAPY, focused on different therapies for prevention as well as cure: cellular, pharmacological and rehabilitative therapies.
OSASUNASSISTANCE, which will invest in an efficient, versatile and close health care system to respond to health emergency situations; innovative, focusing on personalised medicine and the incorporation of new diagnostic technologies and therapies developed in the OSASUNTEST and OSASUNTHERAPY environment; digitalised; and sustainable, with the optimisation of processes and infrastructures.
OSASUNCONNECT, which addresses transversal aspects of the above and some intangible aspects, fundamentally in the field of sustainability and digitalisation.

It focuses on the sustainable improvement of production processes, advanced industrial design with a vision of eco-design and life cycle analysis. Digitalisation is promoted, for example, by creating new digitalised medical devices, data platforms in the cloud, developing algorithms and intelligent systems.

But it is also important to highlight the aspects that place OSASUNBERRI in the international global context: competitive technological surveillance and work in open innovation, with open-calls for the generation of new technological initiatives. And not forgetting the management of intellectual property for products and processes, as well as high-level scientific-technological and productive capacities, which will place OSASUNBERRI at the forefront internationally.

These areas of action will be possible thanks to the fact that OSASUNBERRI covers a wide range of technological capabilities in different fields: biotechnology and molecular biology, nanotechnology, pharmacology, cell therapy, electronic engineering, machine tools, robotics, optical and electrochemical technology, SW developments in the cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning, plastic injection, mechanical engineering, etc.

Budget and expected impact

OSASUNBERRI has a budget of more than 142 million euros, an investment to be made over four years. It starts with an investment already made in 2020 and 2021, but 2022 and 2023 will be the key years with 76% of the budget.

Regarding the expected impact, OSASUNBERRI will generate 296 jobs, with an investment of 100 million euros in infrastructures, 42 million euros of investment in R&D and expects a 20% increase in the turnover of the participating companies.

In terms of indirect and induced impact, OSASUNBERRI will become a driving force for investment in the sector, with an induced investment of around 400 million euros, mainly from the large participating companies.

It is also expected to promote entrepreneurship, with an “Open Call”, an open call for new business initiatives in the project area.

The impact generated will be seen in regional industrial development, as the health sector industry in the area will be strengthened, with a local impact on the global environment. The aim is to respond to the demands of proximity, but also to export the knowledge and experience acquired thanks to OSASUNBERRI.