COVID-19: EU and industry to fund more research through Innovative Medicines Initiative

Source: European Commission Spokesperson’s Service

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the
European Commission and the pharmaceutical industry, has today launched a fast-track call for research proposals to develop treatments and diagnostics in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Up to
€45 million of the funding will come from Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme, and a commitment of a similar scale is expected from the pharmaceutical industry so that the total
investment could reach up to €90 million. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “I welcome the rapid response of IMI to the
Coronavirus outbreak. This collaboration between the public and the private sectors brings their expertise and resources together in our fight against the Coronavirus outbreak. This will help speed
up the development of treatments and diagnostics in face of this global emergency and increase our preparedness for future outbreaks.” This call is part of the coordinated
EU response to the public health threat of COVID-19 and complements the emergency research funding
already mobilised recently under Horizon 2020. You can find more information about the IMI call here, and the
EU research actions on COVID-19
here.