EATRIS has signed a framework agreement with the Roche Partnering Extending Innovation Network (EIN) program. This agreement will facilitate EIN access to research projects within the EATRIS network of Principal Investigators from 70 academic research institutions in eight countries in Europe. The EATRIS-EIN program aims to accelerate translational research toward products that have direct therapeutic benefits for patients. The program will be formally launched on May 1, 2014.Under this partnership, faculty-initiated research projects are selected for funding from proposals solicited EATRIS-wide on a continuous basis. “The agreement with EIN marks the first formalized partnership with a major pharmaceutical company, in which EATRIS can accelerate access to important research that can provide significant patient benefits”, said Giovanni Migliaccio, Scientific Director of EATRIS. The EATRIS-EIN agreement aims at combining the know-how and expertise from Roche with the innovation potential of Europe’s leading academic scientists in order to accelerate the progression of therapeutic research projects towards the clinic, and further strengthen the cooperation between university research and pharmaceutical development. Existing partners within the EIN program include Harvard University, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, as well as a partnership with various universities from Switzerland including Universities of Basel, Bern, and Zurich. VHIR's director, Dr. Joan Comella, is the vice-Chair of EATRIS-ERIC which helps bring closer to the market new vaccines, ATMPs, biomarkers, small therapeutic molecules and molecular imaging and tracers.