As scientists across the U.S. face increasing uncertainty due to funding freezes and mass layoffs at health agencies, German research institute BioMed X is stepping in to offer a lifeline. The institute has opened a matchmaking program to align threatened NIH grants with potential new funders from the pharmaceutical industry.
Through the XBridge Program, researchers can submit their NIH grants into the Heidelberg-based institute’s global crowdsourcing platform, where the grants can then be viewed by the institute’s network of pharma partners, according to an April 7 release. Should a partner express interest, the grantee will be invited to attend a pitch day hosted by BioMed X to make the case for their research to interested funders.
The institute’s industry partners include pharma giants like Roche, Merck KGaA, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi, among others, according to BioMed X’s website.
The program covers human disease research, including the identification of potential new drug targets and the development of new therapeutics, BioMed X said in the release.
“The purpose of our new XBridge Program is to open a new door for researchers facing the abrupt loss of NIH support,” Christian Tidona, BioMed X’s founder and managing director, said in the release. “This is not a substitute for government funding—but it is a way to help scientists stay active and visible in the global research ecosystem, while we match them with new funding partners who may be willing to support their work.”
BioMed X isn’t the only European institution seeking to support U.S. scientists.
In late March, the government of the Netherlands set up a fund to attract American researchers, with a plan to start financing as soon as possible. Next door in Belgium, the Free University Brussels unveiled 12 postdoctoral positions specifically intended for American scholars.
And 12 European countries recently got together to brainstorm ways to snatch up talent set adrift from the U.S.
Those countries—Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain—want to appeal to scientists "who might suffer from research interference and ill-motivated and brutal funding cuts,” according to a letter to the European Commission viewed by Politico.
The Trump administration has sought to dismantle science in the U.S. since the January inauguration, firing thousands of employees from the Department of Health and Human Services, terminating grants that have already been awarded and targeting elite universities for funding freezes.