Brussels, 23/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 October, the European Commission approved aid worth €90 million to be granted by France to the R&D programme “ADNA” to develop personalised medicine for infectious diseases, cancer and genetic diseases. France intends to make available €90 million worth of aid in the form of grants and repayable advances to BioMérieux and Transgene, both of which form part of the Mérieux-Alliance holding company, and to six other partners including Généthon. The Commission believes that the proposed aid should bring significant and positive benefits in terms of knowledge dissemination and the improvement of health, while having a limited effect on competition. It also notes that this type of programme is not generated spontaneously by the market because of the high risks involved. A large proportion of the results will be made available to any interested parties, and most beneficiaries of the aid have only small shares of the relevant markets. The Commission has therefore concluded that the aid is compatible with the EU's Research, Development and Innovation Framework. (O.L./transl.rt)