Due for launch in 2020, Springboard is Imagine’s dedicated initiative to provide funding and expertise for projects in genetic rare diseases. It’s goal is to maximize the chances of bringing innovations from the lab to the bedside in order to best help patients. Focused on projects with significant potential to benefit patients through therapeutic, diagnostic or care innovations, Springboard gives priority to development through start-ups. Springboard draws on the range of scientific and medical excellence available at Imagine to fund proof of concept and contribute industrial and business expertise to maximize the reach of new ideas. Proof of concept is a pivotal stage in converting scientific results to innovation. Results before proof of concept may be too preliminary and fragmented to attract the investment needed to push forward to the next stage. This is where Springboard comes in. The initiative funds or co-funds a wide spectrum of work on projects with a view to successful technology transfer. The program contributes scientific, clinical and business expertise to pave the way for the involvement of private partners—depending on results—through start-ups.
Springboard is a pioneering initiative that is unique in the world in the field of genetic diseases, both in terms of the scale of the resources implemented at this critical stage of development, and its positioning in an ecosystem of experimental and clinical excellence and resources at the Imagine Institute. Our program is spearheaded by prominent scientific and industry experts and supports the projects they select through to the maturity required to attract private investment. Besides the goal of moving research discoveries from the lab to the development of innovations, diagnostic and therapeutic solutions, Springboard also helps to create jobs in the new start-ups and to reinvest the economic benefits in the Institute's research activities.