Horizon 2020 and partnerships have ramped up actions addressing the coronavirus crisis with reallocated budget, fast-track calls and Covid-specific topics.
The European Commission (EC) has refocused many research and innovation actions to address the Coronavirus crisis over the past months (see SwissCore article). In addition to the new funding for vaccine and diagnostics research, hackathons and other support actions to help deal with all aspects of the crisis, as collated on the ERA corona platform, new initiatives have ramped up activities further. In particular, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) has further mobilised its various Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) with new crisis response calls, new projects have been launched in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) partnership and EC has announced a new call for projects repurposing manufacturing capacity for medical supplies and equipment.
A new call within Horizon 2020 societal challenge 1 on health will fund projects repurposing manufacturing for rapid production of vital medical supplies and equipment needed for testing, treatment and prevention, and also proposals for developing medical technologies and digital tools to improve detection, surveillance and patients care. New research will learn from large groups of patients (cohorts) across Europe, and better understanding of the behavioural and socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus epidemic could help improve treatment and prevention strategies. The EC aims to enable research work to start as quickly as possible through shorter timelines for the preparation of expressions of interest and for their evaluation.
Some preliminary initiatives (see SwissCore article) taken last month within the EIT have been ramped up with a Crisis Response Initiative with EUR 60 million in financing. The EUR 60 million financing will power innovations in health, climate change, digitisation, food, sustainable energy, urban mobility, manufacturing and raw materials. The Crisis Response consists of two main tracks of activities to be implemented across the EIT’s eight KICs. Firstly, a Venture Support Instrument will provide additional EIT support (financing, technical assistance and network) to help start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs weather the crisis and accelerate their growth. Secondly, Pandemic Response Projects will mobilise innovators to address the COVID-19 crisis impact, both in terms of the immediate health concerns and the wider response needed. This funding will provide added support for European start-ups, complementing the extra budget of EUR 150 million to be disbursed to disruptive innovators for scaling up their Covid-related solutions in the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Additionally, some of the earlier actions have begun to bear fruit as fast-track calls move forward. IMI has provisionally selected eight projects for funding from its fast-track Call for proposals on coronavirus diagnostics and treatments. In addition, it has boosted the IMI funding pot from EUR 45 million to EUR 72 million. On top of this, EFPIA companies, IMI Associated Partners, and other organisations will contribute over EUR 45 million to the projects.