On 30 June, the Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-Norte) hosted a strategic meeting bringing together the entities that make up the Regional Smart Specialization Platform (PREI) in Life and Health Sciences, known as Bridges4Health, the region’s 14 Local Health Units (ULSs), IPO Porto, and the Executive Board of Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS). The aim was to align priorities and define strategies for joint action. During the meeting, participants committed to collaborating in the fields of research and innovation, with the goal of maximising resources and expertise while minimising duplication and waste, ultimately improving healthcare delivery.
Invited to close the session, the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, stated that she had witnessed “a shared determination” to make things happen and welcomed the “significant work already carried out” within this PREI. She added that “all of this prepares us for the next stage, which is applying for competitive European funding.”
The Minister also highlighted that Bridges4Health brings together the three essential pillars of the European strategy for the sector—research, innovation in healthcare delivery, and business engagement—while also fostering the economic growth required to ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system. In this context, she noted that this PREI could serve as a strong example for the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi, who is responsible for shaping regulatory simplification in the healthcare sector and accelerating clinical development in Europe. It could even be included within the scope of the European Biotech Act, a European Commission initiative aimed at transforming Europe’s scientific excellence into market leadership and industrial-scale growth.
Opening the session, the President of CCDR-Norte, Álvaro Santos, emphasised the role of the Northern Portugal Smart Specialisation Strategy – S3 NORTE 2027, noting that it “constitutes the region’s main reference framework for defining public policy priorities in research, development and innovation, enabling more effective guidance of public and private investment, strengthening the links between research, innovation and the productive sector, and promoting territorial cohesion within the regional innovation system.”
This was followed by a presentation of the PREI Bridges4Health, delivered by the directors of the coordinating institutions: Claudio Sunkel, as director of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto (i3S), and Jorge Pedrosa, as president of the Braga Academic Clinical Centre (2CA-Braga). An overview of the platform’s four strategic domains—Precision Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedical Devices and Technologies, and Microbiome and Health—was then presented by José Carlos Machado, Vice-Director of i3S; Jorge Pedrosa, President of 2CA-Braga; Luísa Peixe, Director of the Applied Biomolecular Sciences Unit (UCIBIO) at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto; and Manuela Pintado, Director of the Centre for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry (CBQF) of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
Subsequently, during a debate moderated by CCDR-Norte’s Vice-President for Health, Jorge Mendes, participants discussed four key questions: 1 - To what extent can the four strategic domains of PREI strengthen the innovation capacity of the ULSs and IPO Porto, as well as improve healthcare delivery? 2 - How should collaboration between PREI, the ULSs and IPO Porto be structured in order to align priorities and support the definition of regional investment policies in Life and Health Sciences? 3 - Which funding mechanisms, incentives or public policy instruments could ensure a structured and sustainable model of collaboration between PREI, the scientific community and healthcare providers? 4 - What critical R&D and innovation challenges are currently faced by the ULSs and IPO Porto that should be considered in the regional strategy for Life and Health Sciences?
This session, organised by CCDR-Norte, formed part of the ongoing development of the PREI Bridges4Health, which is responsible for submitting recommendations, action proposals and contributions aimed at defining regional investment and support priorities for research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship activities in the field of Life and Health Sciences.
Implemented under the Norte 2030 Programme, PREI Bridges4Health is coordinated by i3S and 2CA-Braga, in collaboration with UCIBIO at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto and the CBQF of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
