New ARC Hub Bridges Clinics, Startups, and Research
From the laboratory to practical application: The new ARC Center aims to bring research results into practical application more quickly. © Charité | Arne Sattler
Berlin's Charité, one of Europe's leading university hospitals, has unveiled a new ARC Innovation Center, a hub designed to get medical breakthroughs from concept to clinic faster than ever. ARC stands for Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate. The center is a joint initiative of Charité and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), according to a press release from Charité.
The idea is straightforward: healthcare staff on the ground often know best what needs fixing. The ARC Center collects and prioritizes these real-world challenges, develops solutions, and tests them directly in clinical settings. If a project succeeds commercially, the proceeds feed back into research, creating a self-sustaining cycle.
"Hospital staff are the key players in bringing about genuine transformation in healthcare," said Prof. Surjo Soekadar, Chief Innovation Officer at Charité.
The concept originated at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel and has since been adopted globally, with partners including Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, UCL Partners in London, and SingHealth in Singapore.
In Berlin, the center will open Open Innovation Hubs, including a planned NeuroTech hub, bringing together clinics, startups, research teams, and industry. A matching-funds mechanism means the State of Berlin contributes an extra 50 percent for every euro invested by private partners in open-innovation projects at Charité.
First activities launch in the first half of 2026, including idea competitions and an innovator program for staff and external teams.