Innovative Medicines Initiative in fast-track call for research against Covid-19
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the pharmaceutical industry, launched on March 3 a fast-track call for research proposals to develop treatments and diagnostics in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the European Commission said.
Up to 45 million euro 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 euro.
Mariya Gabriel, European 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,” she said.
The European Commission said that the call is part of the co-ordinated EU response to the public health threat of COVID-19 and complements the emergency research funding already mobilised recently under Horizon 2020.
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry press centre)
