On 4 May, the European Union and its partners launched a coronavirus global response effort, the aim of which is to raise €7.5bn to develop diagnostics, treatments & vaccines and to deploy them across the world at an affordable price.
€1 billion of these have been mobilised by Horizon 2020, the EU’s flagship programme for research and innovation. This money can be broken down into €450 million for developing scientific solutions for testing, treating and preventing against the coronavirus, a €400 million guarantee of the European Investment Bank lending to finance pre-commercial stage investments in COVID-19 research and development, and €150 million for disruptive innovations on COVID-19 under the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator.
Since the beginning of the current crisis, the Commission has been launching several specific Research & Innovation (R&I) actions through Horizon 2020 since the beginning of the current crisis. These actions address epidemiology, preparedness and response to outbreaks, development of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines and infrastructures to enable these activities.
More information on the breakdown of the funds can be found online.
The University of Malta community is invited to join the EU’s #GlobalResponse pledging effort.