With the HERA Incubator, the EC launched an initiative to keep coronavirus variants at bay and prepare for a permanent authority in the fight against pandemics.
The European Commission (EC) proposes to pool resources in the continued fight against COVID-19. On 17 February, it announced the creation of a European bio-defence preparedness plan against coronavirus variants called ‘HERA Incubator’, which shall unite researchers, biotech companies, manufacturers and public authorities in the EU and globally to detect new variants, provide incentives to develop new and adapted vaccines, speed up their approval process, and scale up manufacturing capacities. The HERA Incubator shall ensure that all Europeans have access to COVID-19 vaccines effective not only against the current virus, but also against its future variants.
At the launch of the respective Commission Communication, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel pointed out that research and innovation continue to be crucial in fighting the pandemic. She said, “The HERA Incubator and the reinforcement of European infrastructures and networks, supported by additional funding from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes, will help us deal with any variants and be better prepared for future outbreaks”. The Communication states that the EC will swiftly make available €30 million under Horizon 2020 and €120 million under Horizon Europe to support a part of the planned actions.
The HERA Incubator will focus on three main actions as summarised in a factsheet. First, it will aim to detect and analyse new variants of the virus by boosting the capacity to characterise the variants, enabling the sharing of information, and helping to identify variants of high concern. Second, it will support companies in developing or adapting vaccines towards new variants; facilitate clinical trials with an EU-wide network ‘VACCELERATE’, which consists of 16 Member States and five Associated Countries including Switzerland, and support new technologies for vaccines. Third, it will help to produce vaccines against new variants at scale and with speed by upgrading advanced purchase agreements and by helping companies to present plans ensuring production capacity in the EU and efficient supply. To deliver towards these actions, the EU will speed up regulatory procedures and ramp up industrial production with different measures.
In the long run, the HERA Incubator, which is in itself an emergency programme, shall serve as the vanguard for the ‘European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority’ (HERA). HERA will enable the EU to anticipate future pandemics and tackle them better and faster. It shall provide a permanent structure for risk modelling, global surveillance, technology transfers, flexible manufacturing capacity, supply chain risk mapping and vaccine and medicine research and development. An EC proposal for HERA is expected for the fourth quarter of 2021 while the authority shall become operational in 2022. A roadmap for the initiative was open for feedback until 24 February.