EC: 117M euro granted for developing treatments and diagnostics of coronavirus
The European Commission said on May 12 that eight large-scale research projects, aimed at developing treatments and diagnostics for the coronavirus, had been selected in a fast-track call for proposals, launched in March by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership.
In order to fund a larger number of high-quality proposals, the Commission increased its commitment to 72 million euro (up from the originally planned 45 million euro) from Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme.
A total of 45 million euro will be provided by the pharmaceutical industry, IMI associated partners and other organisations involved with the projects, bringing the total investment to 117 million euro, the EC said.
Out of the eight projects funded (the full list is here) under the IMI call, five are focusing on diagnostics and three on treatments.
The ones that will be working on diagnostic tools intend to develop devices that can be used anywhere, such as in the doctor’s surgery or in a patient’s own home, and can deliver fast results in 14-40 minutes.
The other projects, which will focus on the development of treatments, will primarily work on the current coronavirus outbreak, while they will make substantial efforts to prepare for future outbreaks, the EC said.
Please support The Sofia Globe through our Patreon page
For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation, please click here.
Section supported by the Embassy of Switzerland
