ERAMET Consortium Meets in Catania for Three Days of Scientific Exchange and Strategic Planning
From 14 to 16 April 2026, the city of Catania, Italy, hosted the ERAMET Face-to-Face Meeting, which brought together representatives of the international ERAMET consortium for three days of scientific exchange, strategic discussion, and collaborative planning. The event was held at Hotel Nettuno, Catania.
The meeting represented an important milestone for the consortium, providing partners with the opportunity to review project progress, align priorities for the coming months, and further strengthen cooperation across the institutions involved in the initiative. TEDDY Network participated in the meeting as part of an ongoing collaboration with the ERAMET consortium, reflecting the growing engagement between the two initiatives.
About the ERAMET Project
ERAMET stands for Ecosystem for Rapid Adoption of Modelling and Simulation Methods to Address Regulatory Needs in the Development of Orphan and Paediatric Medicines. It is a European Union-funded project coordinated by a multidisciplinary consortium of 17 partners based in Belgium, Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.
The project aims to accelerate and improve the development and regulatory approval of medicines for children and patients affected by rare diseases. To achieve this, ERAMET promotes the use of advanced modelling and simulation (M&S) approaches integrated with real-world data, including medical records and patient registries.
Its framework is structured around three main pillars:
- Repository – a central hub connecting regulatory questions, datasets, and analytical methods
- Standards Development – establishment and validation of robust standards for data quality and advanced methodologies, including artificial intelligence, digital twins, and hybrid analytical approaches
- AI-based Platform – an automated environment supporting data collection, harmonisation, analysis, and credibility assessment of data and methods
Through this structure, ERAMET aims to facilitate more efficient, transparent, and evidence-based regulatory decision-making for the development of therapies targeting paediatric and rare diseases.
Scientific Programme Highlights
The meeting was hosted by Francesco Pappalardo (University of Catania, UNICT), who also served as an active scientific contributor throughout the event. The scientific programme opened with a presentation by Flora Musuamba (FAMHP/UNAMUR), coordinator of the ERAMET project, who introduced the project to the consortium, outlining its objectives, structure, and strategic direction.
Within the session titled Application of the Question-Centric Approach to Drug Development, Oscar Della Pasqua, TEDDY Stichting legal representative, member of the TEDDY Board of Directors, and Chair in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics at University College London (UK), presented on Haemoglobinopathies: the DEEP-2 use case.
Donato Bonifazi, Chair of TEDDY Network and Coordinator of EPTRI – European Paediatric Transnational Research Infrastructure, and Viviana Gianunzi, representing Fondazione per la Ricerca Farmacologica Gianni Benzi (FGB) and vice Chair of EPTRI, then delivered a presentation entitled “The European paediatric and rare diseases research scenario”, offering a broad view of the European research landscape in paediatric and rare diseases and placing the ERAMET project within this wider strategic context.
The meeting was also attended by Claudia Pansieri, Clinical Project Manager of TEDDY Network, and Giorgio Reggiardo, member of the TEDDY Board of Directors and Biostatistics Head at TEDDY, representing the organisation’s continued commitment to active participation in the ERAMET consortium activities.
The presentation is available here.
The meeting concluded successfully, marking another important step forward for the ERAMET project and reaffirming the consortium’s shared commitment to advancing regulatory science, modelling and simulation methodologies, and improved access to treatments for paediatric and rare disease patients.