The Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL) is participating in two unique European research projects, LITMUS and CANCER-ID, under the umbrella of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) partnerships. IBBL’s participation in these projects confirms its international reputation as a reliable, quality driven biobank and as a valuable partner. It also allows IBBL to strengthen its network of international partners. IMI is the world’s biggest public-private partnership in the field of life sciences. The initiative has a budget of €3.3 billion for the period 2014-2020 with which it funds research aiming to speed up the development of, and patient access to, innovative medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. On 14 December 2018, its first 10 years of funding medical breakthrough will be celebrated by an international conference and networking event taking place in Luxembourg.
IBBL is taking part in two IMI projects, LITMUS (Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis) and CANCER-ID (Cancer treatment and monitoring through identification of circulating tumour cells and tumour related nucleic acids in blood). LITMUS aims to develop and validate highly accurate blood tests and imaging techniques that will allow doctors and researchers to rapidly and easily diagnose the severity of the disease in individual patients and monitor changes in their livers. The objective of CANCER-ID is to develop new, less invasive ways of capturing cancerous cells and cancer genetic material from blood samples and analysing them for clues to what treatment is needed and how well drugs are working. The project focuses initially on specific types of lung and breast cancer.