V. Butkus, co-founder of Fermentas and MO Museum, donates EUR 5 million to the Medical Research Foundation
Data: 2023 03 28
Prof. Dr Habil. Viktoras Butkus, biotechnologist, co-founder of Fermentas (now Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltic) and co-founder of the MO Museum, has become a shareholder of the Future Biomedicine Fund for Personalised Medicine Research. He has provided a cash grant of EUR 5 million to the Foundation.
The Future Biomedicine Foundation was founded by Prof. Arvydas Janulaitis. Its aim is to provide Lithuanian researchers with additional opportunities to carry out research related to personalised medicine, which is rapidly gaining popularity in the world and which is radically changing the traditional model of disease prevention and treatment. At the time, EUR 10 million was allocated to the Fund to achieve its objectives.
V. Butkus said that the reason for becoming a shareholder was the desire to contribute more to the Foundation’s goals – to subsidise projects that will initiate or at least accelerate the emergence of new competences. The professor also said that he wanted to use his personal funds to create the fund as a signal to the state not to miss the opportunity to prepare for the new wave of biotechnology development.
“The world is currently facing new medical and healthcare challenges. We will move from treatment to early diagnosis and personalised medicine. This paradigm shift will require new knowledge and specialists who are able to put that knowledge into practice”, Butkus is quoted in the report.
Until now, Viktoras Butkus has participated in the Foundation’s activities as a member of the Board, but since becoming a shareholder, he has acquired the rights to participate in the formation of the organisation’s governing bodies, to amend the statutes, to make decisions on activities and finances, and to approve the rules for managing the support.
“Supporting the Foundation is undoubtedly an opportunity to help scientists to deepen their understanding of the methods and benefits of personalised medicine, as well as an opportunity to accelerate the progress of this treatment model in Lithuania. We believe that the addition of V. Butkus and the grant will not only expand the Foundation’s ability to support personalised medicine research, but will also give additional confidence in our activities,” explains the founder of the Foundation A. Janulaitis.
This year, the Future Biomedicine Fund has already allocated €0.8 million for new research into personalised medicine. The majority of the funded applications concern molecular research on lung, larynx, pancreas, stomach and kidney tumours.
