• Posted 17-Aug-2020

Update on Health Research in Horizon 2020

This article provides an update on health-related developments of Horizon 2020, including Covid-19 activities.

Recent results, planned calls and other developments

• All Societal Challenge 1 calls are now closed and the submission rates are available under each topic's "Call updates" section on the F&T Portal; this includes the second rapid SC1 Call on COVID-19.
• Further health-related topics will be part of the Green Deal H2020 call, to be launched in September.
• The Innovative Medicines Initiative will close its final H2020 calls, IMI Call 22 and 23, on 29 September.
• Eight successful projects funded under the IMI2 Call 21 on 'Development of therapeutics and diagnostics combatting coronavirus infections' were announced in May.
• The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership has been running its final H2020 calls; 20 projects have received EDCTP COVID-19 emergency funding.
• The European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases Networking Support Scheme call, which supports events disseminating knowledge on rare diseases is open on a continuous basis, with the next collection date on 1 September.
• JPI MYBL 'Equality and Wellbeing across Generations' call is open until 14 September. Information for UK applicants is available on the dedicated ESRC page.
• The European Commission has doubled its contribution to the CEPI global coalition call on Covid-19 vaccine development and manufacturing, extended until 28 September.
• The Innovative Medicines Initiative Stakeholder Forum 2020 will take place online on 10 November, under the theme of 'Broader horizons: growing Europe's health partnership'.
• An EIT-funded project has launched an online COVID-19 evidence synthesis platform and risk assessment tool.
• The European Research Area Corona platform disseminates H2020 information related to Coronavirus: FAQs, projects, calls, as well as useful links to national funding and activities.

Policy developments 

• In line with the ERAvCorona Action Plan, the Commission pledged €1 billion from the Horizon 2020 budget to funding Covid-19-related projects and is now seeking endorsement from stakeholders benefiting from EU funding for its Manifesto to maximise the accessibility of research results on Covid-19.
• Together with the Recovery plan for Europe, a new, stand-alone EU4Health Programme has been announced as part of the EU response to the Covid-19 crisis.
• The European Commission has published a draft proposal for the European Partnership for Health Innovation, which will build on the current IMI2 and ECSEL Joint Undertakings.
• A public consultation on the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, planned to be put forward in autumn 2020, is open until 15 September 2020.
• The European Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism High-Level Group has published its latest opinion entitled 'Adaptation to climate change-related health effects'.
• The German Presidency will hold a high-level online conference entitled 'Europe: Unite against Cancer' on 13 October and the 'Digital Health 2020 – EU on the Move' event on 11 November.

Source:  UKRO