EU allocates additional €122 m for more COVID-19 research

20 / 05 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

The European Commission has allocated additional €122 million for urgently needed research into the coronavirus (COVID-19).

This falls within the framework of the commission’s €1.4 billion pledge to the Coronavirus Global Response initiative, launched by President Ursula von der Leyen on 4 May 2020.

This new special call under Horizon 2020 complements earlier actions to support 18 projects with €48.2 million to develop diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and preparedness for epidemics, as well as the €117 million invested in 8 projects on diagnostics and treatments through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, and measures to support innovative ideas through the European Innovation Council.

It implements Action 3 of the ERAvsCorona Action Plan, a working document resulting from dialogues between the Commission services and national institutions.

The new call will cover five areas, including repurposing of manufacturing for vital medical supplies and equipment (€23 million) as well as medical technologies, digital tools and artificial intelligence analytics to improve surveillance and care at high Technology Readiness Levels (€56 million).

It will also cover behavioral, social and economic impacts of the outbreak responses (€20 million) as well as pan-European COVID-19 cohorts (€20 million) and collaboration of existing EU and international cohorts of relevance to COVID-19 (€3 million).

The new call is the latest addition to a range of EU-funded research and innovation actions to fight the coronavirus. It complements earlier actions to develop diagnostics, treatments and vaccines by strengthening capacity to manufacture and deploying readily available solutions in order to rapidly address the pressing needs. It will also improve understanding of the behavioural and socio-economic impacts of the epidemic.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “We are mobilizing all means at our disposal to fight this pandemic with testing, treatments and prevention. But to succeed against the coronavirus, we must also understand how it impacts our society and how to best deploy these interventions rapidly. We must explore technological solutions to manufacture medical equipment and supplies faster, to monitor and prevent the spread of the disease, and to better care for patients.”

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, added: “We are supporting the health authorities, healthcare professionals and the general public in all Member States in tackling the coronavirus crisis. To this end, we are deploying innovative technologies and tools that can quickly be used to prevent, optimally treat, and recover from this pandemic and prepare for its aftermath. These include digital solutions and technologies such as telemedicine, data, AI, robotics, and photonics.”