Warsaw, destination of the first i4KIDS Mission on paediatric innovation

The Polish capital stands out for its great dynamism in the field of paediatric and maternal innovation and good proof of this is the boom that entities and organisations interested in this field are experiencing. It was also the city chosen to host the third edition of the Pediatric Innovation Day, which, for the first time in its history, was held outside Barcelona, with the aim of promoting the internationalisation of i4KIDS through the i4KIDS-EUROPE project.    

This mission, supported by ACCIÓ (Agència per la Competitivitat de l’Empresa) and Biocat (BioRegió de Catalunya), brought together five professionals from I3PT, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and IDIBAPS, who, together with the i4KIDS team, travelled to Warsaw to participate in a full three-day agenda. The first day of the mission, which also included the participation of EIT Health and Nina Capital, started with a cultural activity in the city and a networking dinner. 

The second day of the mission brought together representatives of the eight organisations that are part of the i4KIDS-EUROPE consortium to visit the largest children’s hospital in the country, the Children’s Memorial Health Institute, and learn first-hand how the Polish paediatric healthcare system works. The day continued with a series of presentations at the Supreme Medical Chamber by professionals from different organisations, both public and private, dedicated to fostering innovation in paediatrics and maternity in Poland, such as the Medical Research Agency, the state agency responsible for the development of scientific research in the field of medical and health sciences, and the pharmaceutical company Novartis. The day ended with a networking dinner with i4KIDS-EUROPE members in the city centre.  

The Pediatric Innovation Day was the last stop of this first international i4KIDS mission, dedicated to the Polish paediatric innovation ecosystem. This event offered the participants of the mission the opportunity to meet different experts, both from the United States and Europe, who addressed key topics such as impact investment in paediatrics, patient experience and collaboration with start-ups to boost the arrival of real solutions to the paediatric market. 

Attendees also met the seven finalists of the Wild Card acceleration programme, promoted by EIT Health with the collaboration of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in this year’s edition. These start-ups culminated their participation in this acceleration programme after five months of intense work with clinical mentors and technicians specialised in paediatric and maternal health and two months following the methodology of the prestigious CIMIT programme in Boston led by John Collins. The programme was closed with a pitch-competition in front of a jury made up of investment funds (EIT Health Ventures, Nina Capital, Montana Impact Fund), patient representatives with two members of KIDS Barcelona and a member of the i4KIDS Advisory Board.