Ensuring the success of PREDICTOM through effective partnership management

What is your role and contribution in the PREDICTOM project?

On behalf of Lygature, I am  co-leading the program management work package, meaning that, together with the work package members, we ensure proper overall management of the project. This includes supporting all 28 consortium members in achieving their objectives and completing their actions, monitoring progress in the various work packages, and facilitating the periodic reporting of the project. Furthermore, we are responsible for driving effective collaboration between all partners through establishment of an effective meeting structure within the consortium. We perform these management activities in close collaboration with PREDICTOM's industrial lead GE HealthCare GmbH and the academic lead Stavanger University Hospital.

Why is your organization as a partner in PREDICTOM best suited to fulfil this role?

Within Lygature we have almost 2 decades of experience with managing complex partnerships. One of our core expertise is the management of international public-private partnerships in the pre-competitive domain like this Innovative Health Initiative-funded PREDICTOM project. Our hands-on experience with establishing, driving, monitoring, and reporting on projects of this size and complexity increases the chances of these projects to succeed in achieving their goals.

In PREDICTOM, we bring our longstanding expertise in initiatives that envision to advance the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. A testament to our dedication to this field is our continuous involvement (for almost a decade) in international Innovative Medicines Initiative-funded projects such as RADAR-CNS and RADAR-AD the assessment of depression, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy (RADAR-CNS) and Alzheimer's disease (RADAR-AD). PREDICTOM builds on the learnings from these projects and Lygature's close involvement in those is therefore of crucial importance.

Lygature has also been involved (since 2021) in the European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND), which seeks to accelerate the discovery of diagnostics and treatment for neurodegenerative diseases by removing barriers to data and sample sharing. PREDICTOM's consortium will collaborate with EPND to achieve our shared goals, so we at Lygature are very happy to be contributing to both initiatives.

Thus, in PREDICTOM, we are proud to be building on the acquired knowledge in all these projects and are happy to cultivate our relationships with partners in the field of AD diagnostics. Ensuring the success of all these initiatives allows Lygature to have the biggest possible impact on the field of AD diagnostics and treatment.

What is your personal motivation to participate in the project?

My personal motivation to participate in this project is that I sincerely believe that with this consortium, we can have a positive impact on patients with dementia. I am honored to be part of this project and to collaborate closely with the leading experts in the dementia field.

What do you like most about your work on the project and is there anything challenging about it?

I personally like the collaborative aspect of this large-scale public-private partnership the most. We have the opportunity to bring together 28 partners from different countries, each one of them with a unique background and expertise, to ensure that we improve detection and management of Alzheimer’s disease. It is very motivating to see the passion and enthusiasm of each partner to work together with the others on this project in order to achieve our mutual goal.

At the same time, the challenges facing the project also stem from its complex collaborative nature. All activities performed across the various work packages and tasks are interlinked and small deviations therein could have reverberating effects. It is impossible to predict the work progress in detail throughout the project period of 4 years. Dealing with these unforeseen obstacles and redirecting the course of this large-scale public-private partnership can be challenging. However, with our experiences and the great efforts of all consortium partners, I am confident that within PREDICTOM we can overcome these challenges.

Why, in your opinion, are public-private partnerships important to address current unmet medical needs?

Finding a solution to current unmet medical needs, like Alzheimer’s disease, requires a broad range of knowledge, including expertise on the disease, drug and/or biomarker development, as well as regulation. This abundance of knowledge exceeds the capabilities of one or a few organizations and requires combining the expertise of numerous organizations. Large scale public-private partnerships therefore form a unique formation that allows for combing the expertise and knowledge from various stakeholders. Stakeholders, including academia, pharma, MedTech, patient representatives, and regulators, all share their expertise and contribute to achieve the mutual goal to find a solution to a specific unmet medical need.

Lygature acts as a neutral broken in public-private partnerships. Can you explain what this position entails for Lygature’s work in PREDICTOM on a day-to-day basis?

PREDICTOM is a collaboration of 28 partners located in different countries and/or continents, all with their own expertise, experiences, and motivations to contribute to this project. It is a very complicated and delicate process to ensure that all partners interact and collaborate effectively throughout the project's duration (four years). To ensure that these partners work together effectively, you need a specialized organization focusing on the collaboration itself. This allows each individual partner to not get ‘distracted’ by managerial tasks and enables them to use their expertise to focus on their particular activities required to achieve the goals of the project.

This means that Lygature performs on a day-to-day basis a variety of tasks, ranging from administrative tasks to more strategic tasks. Administrative tasks include the scheduling of meetings and supporting partners in performing their reporting duties. More strategic tasks include advising on risk mitigation strategies and developing a plan to sustain key assets of the PREDICTOM project beyond the project period.