The European Commission is mobilising €123 million to research coronavirus variants, money which comes from Horizon Europe, the new EU research and innovation programme. This emergency funding is the latest of several actions funded by the EU in the field of research and innovation to fight the coronavirus. Moreover, it contributes to the Commission's overall action to prevent, mitigate and respond to the impact of coronavirus variants.

New calls opened

New calls have been launched by the Commission to enhance previous actions which aim to develop treatments and vaccines by coordinating and managing clinical trials that will advance the development of therapeutics and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. These calls will support the development of large scale, COVID-19 associates and networks beyond Europe's borders. At the same time, they will reinforce the necessary infrastructures to share data, expertise, research resources and expert services among researchers and research organisations.

The funded projects plan to:

• Establish new and/or build on existing large-scale, multi-centre and regional or multinational cohorts, including beyond Europe's borders, which should swiftly advance the knowledge on the coronavirus and its emerging variants.
• Expedite the development of favourable therapeutic or vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, having already completed preclinical development in clinical studies.
• Support research infrastructures to speed up data sharing and deliver fast research support and expertise, to confront the coronavirus variants and to be ready for future epidemics.

The successful consortia are expected to work together with other projects at national, regional, and international level, to boost cooperation and to avoid duplication of the research efforts. These emergency calls will deal with the short to medium-term threat and simultaneously prepare for the future. They will support the construction of the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), which will enable the EU to foresee and better handle future pandemics.

The calls will open for submissions on 13 April and the deadline for submission is 6 May 2021. The new solutions need to be available and affordable for all, in line with the principles of the Coronavirus Global Response.

Context and background

In February 2021, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared the start of a European bio-defence readiness plan directed at preparing Europe for an heightened threat of coronavirus variants. The HERA Incubator will bring together science, industry and public authorities, and take advantage of all available resources to enable Europe to respond to this challenge.

Since the start of the crisis, the Commission has been at the cutting edge of supporting research and innovation and and coordinating European and global research efforts, including preparedness for pandemics. It has pledged €1.4 billion to the Coronavirus Global Response, of which €1 billion comes from Horizon 2020, the previous EU research and innovation programme.

The new special calls announced today under Horizon Europe complement these earlier actions to fight the coronavirus:

• support for 18 projects with €48.2 million to develop diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and preparedness for epidemics
• 8 projects with €117 million invested on the development of diagnostics and treatments through the Innovative Medicines Initiative
• 24 projects with €133.4 million granted to addressing pressing needs and the socio-economic impact of the pandemic and other measures to support innovative ideas through the European Innovation Council.

The calls implemented action 3 of the ERAvsCorona Action Plan, a working document resulting from dialogues between the Commission services and national institutions.

Image © European Commission, 2020