Professor Enrico Baraldi presented innovations to preserve antibiotic efficacy at ResilienceTalks, University of Oulu

We had the pleasure of having Professor Enrico Baraldi, Chair of Marketing at the Uppsala University, as the keynote speaker at ResilienceTalks seminar at the University of Oulu on 30th of August. ResilienceTalks was organized this time in connection with the IMP2024 conference.

Professor Baraldi delivered a keynote on the origins, development, and current structure and processes of PLATINEA, a Swedish multi-sectoral collaboration platform with ambitious goals. The key question posed was: How can we preserve the value of existing antibiotics through various forms of innovation?

In the case of PLATINEA, four sectors collaborated for the first time; academia and research, public authorities, healthcare providers and industry. The platform was created to address two main challenges: recurrent antibiotic shortages and the suboptimal use of antibiotics in Sweden. PLATINEA’s core activities focus on improving access to antibiotics (e.g., reducing the risk of shortages along supply chains) and enhancing their use in healthcare (e.g., conducting optimization studies toward personalized dosages). One interesting aspect of PLATINEA is its use of AI to identify patients at risk and help avoid poor decisions by analyzing big data.

"The lack of access antibiotics and the resistance to antibiotics is a significant global sustainability problem"

Professor Baraldi summarized that the need for PLATINEA was a very concrete problem that was recognize. In Sweden, the access to antibiotics—or the lack thereof—is a crucial issue, and the topic itself is a significant global sustainability problem. PLATINEA is a local starting point that could be a part of more global solution.

"The hope is to convince other countries to start doing what PLATINEA is doing, since no one is safe until everyone is safe," Baraldi concluded, following a round of insightful questions from the audience.

Professor Baraldi´s research covers industrial networks, innovation management, business strategies, science & technology studies, and academic entrepreneurship

Enrico Baraldi is Chaired Professor of Marketing at Uppsala University. His research covers industrial networks, innovation management, business strategies, science & technology studies (STS), academic entrepreneurship and industrial and research policy. He is also involved in developing and promoting solutions to address the challenge of antibiotic resistance. He leads the collaboration platform PLATINEA for innovation of existing antibiotics, with a focus on antibiotics shortages, and has worked in the DRIVE-AB project about new economic models to stimulate antibiotics R&D. His research is published in, among others, Academy of Management Perspectives, California Management Review, European Management Journal, Technovation, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Science& Public Policy, and The Lancet.

A BBC documentary about the story of PLATINEA will be released soon, so if you wish to dive deeper into the topic, please visit PLATINEA´s webpage.

ResilienceTalks is a dynamic discussion series that brings together researchers and experts in the fields of resilience and sustainability studies and development. Our aim is to provide a platform for thought-provoking discussions on topics that are academically rigorous and societally relevant. We believe that through engaging conversations and collaborations, we can make meaningful strides toward a proficient and critical research and more resilient and sustainable future. ResilienceTalks seminar series is organized by the FRONT (Profi 7) research programme and the Resilience Academy of Oulu (RAO).