Health

How the European Commission's COVID-19 funding is being spent

March 04, 2021

Global, Europe

EIU COVID-19 Health Funding Tracker

March 04, 2021

Global, Europe
Anelia Boshnakova

Senior information specialist, Health Policy and Clinical Evidence

Anelia is a senior information specialist and health policy analyst in the Health Policy and Clinical Evidence team. Her areas of expertise are evidence-based medicine and health policy and systems research. Before joining the EIU, Anelia worked as a senior information specialist at Bazian, and previously at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Anelia holds a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University.

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Two recent EC reports describe how the funding pledge of €1.4 billion from Horizon 2020, the EU’s Research and Innovation Programme (2014-2020), has been spent

The European Commission (EC) has published a describing how the funding grants of €1 billion from Horizon 2020, the EU’s Research and Innovation Programme (2014-2020), have been distributed.

Over €700 million have already been awarded to support research and innovation projects to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a contribution of €100 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The other funded projects focus on the development of diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, epidemiology, emergency preparedness and response, socioeconomics, mental health, production and digital technologies, as well as the infrastructures and data resources that enable this research. Below is an example of the types of projects funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme:

  • 45 clinical management and treatment projects at €119 million
  • 4 vaccines projects at €108 million
  • 27 preparedness and crisis management projects at €88 million
  • 28 health systems resilience projects at €53 million
  • 24 basic science projects, including biology of SARS-CoV-2 virus, at €38 million
  • 25 diagnostics projects at €36 million
  • 11 public health projects at €12 million

In addition to grant funding, €400 million in financing from the Horizon 2020 InnovFin EFSI and Infectious Diseases Finance Facility was allocated to mitigate risks for companies developing interventions to combat COVID-19. So far, two European biotech companies developing mRNA vaccines have obtained debt financing agreements: €100 million for BioNTech and €75 million for CureVac.

For further information about the hundreds of projects funded by the Horizon 2020 programme see the EC   and the update published in February 2021.

 

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