[Takeoff #6] Securing European Horizon funding

[Article, Video] - Published on June 20, 2023 in Valorization

Evelina Colacino is a lecturer and researcher at the Charles Gerhadt Institute in Montpellier. Using mechanochemistry, she is working to produce molecules of pharmaceutical interest in a more environmentally friendly, economical, and efficient way. In 2022, the researcher secured €7.7 million in European Horizon funding. She talks about this in the Décollage series produced by the Department of Innovation and Partnerships (Dipa) at the University of Montpellier.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most polluting industries on the planet, with a carbon footprint greater than that of the automotive sector. To reduce this environmental impact, Evelina Colacino, a chemist at the Charles Gerhardt Institute, proposes mechanochemistry. This technology makes it possible to do away with the solvents used in traditional chemistry to synthesize molecules of pharmaceutical interest, which are the active ingredients in our medicines. While this technology is already used in other industrial sectors, theIMPACTIVEproject (innovative mechanochemical processes to synthesize green active pharmaceutical ingredients) is the first to apply it to the pharmaceutical industry.

Led by the University of Montpellier, this project brings together 17 partners—including universities, research laboratories, and the companies Merck and Novartis—and is coordinated by chemist Evelina Colacino from the Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier. With the support of the Dipa, Europe has granted €7.7 million in funding to the researcher and her consortium to develop this technology, which holds promise in many fields. 

Keywords: Takeoff, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Partnerships, Research