Charité/BIH renew co-innovation partnership
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) are continuing their successful international collaboration. In November 2025, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) underpinning their joint co-innovation programme was renewed for another two years. The programme is coordinated by Charité BIH Innovation (CBI) and operationally implemented by the Match & Connect team.
Originally signed in November 2023, the partnership established a professional network connecting innovative start-ups from Singapore with the clinical and scientific expertise of Charité and BIH. The shared goal is to jointly develop research and translational projects in biomedicine and health technologies – from early-stage research and clinical studies through to market readiness.
The MoU renewal coincides with tangible results from the current call for proposals launched in August 2025. Five applications were submitted by Singapore-based start-ups, three of which were successfully matched with Principal Investigators (PIs) at Charité and formalized their interest through Letters of Intent (LoIs).
This process has now resulted in a full joint proposal with KYAN Medical (Singapore). On the Charité side, the project is led by Dr. Armbrust from the Department of Gynaecology with the Center for Oncological Surgery at Charité’s Campus Virchow-Klinikum (CVK). The project focuses on cancer diagnostics and therapy selection and is based on the Optim.AI™ platform, which combines ex-vivo drug response testing with small-data artificial intelligence.
The planned study aims to assess the feasibility and clinical relevance of the approach in Germany, including sample viability for international shipment and observational clinical studies. Patients will receive structured reports on the efficacy of multiple clinically relevant drugs and drug combinations.
Optim.AI™ is already being commercialized across several Southeast Asian countries and is scheduled for launch in the United States in 2026. The collaboration with Charité now offers the opportunity to validate and further develop the technology within the German healthcare context.
By renewing the MoU, Charité/BIH and Enterprise Singapore reaffirm their commitment to building sustainable international innovation bridges and advancing translational research through strong global partnerships.