- The European Commission launched on February 17th the Hera Incubator programme, to address the emerging threat of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants and to support the establishment of the HERA -European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority. The programme investment is € 150 million euros, coming part from the Horizon 2020 and other part from Horizon Europe. Some questions and answers about the HERA Incubator are already published and new information about these funding opportunities, which are expected to be launched in March, will soon be available.
- The H2020 INNO4COV-19 project will finance projects to test and validate applications in several areas such as medical technologies, environmental surveillance systems, sensors, protection of healthcare professionals, artificial intelligence and data mining. Calls are open until April 30th. Find out more information and apply through the link.
- The European project TRANSCAN-3 announced the first call for proposals on the theme: “Next generation cancer immunotherapy: targeting the tumor microenvironment“. The call will be launched on April 6th and submission deadline will be June 2021. More information through the link.
- The VACCELERATE project was signed on February 17th and is composed of 26 partners from 16 Member States and 5 Associated Countries. Portugal integrates this project through the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto. VACCELERATE will receive € 12 million of EC funding to support the rapid establishment of a network of structures for phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials. This will allow the development of clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and prepare Europe for other infectious diseases that may arise in the future. VACCELERATE will be an integral part of HERA Incubator.
- The European Health Data & Evidence Network (EHDEN) launched the 4th open call for Data Partners. EHDEN is a consortium of the European Innovative Medicines Initiative – IMI2, made up of 22 European partners, which aims to harmonize the format of health data from different sources in different regions of Europe. The availability of a large number of harmonized (anonymous) data will not only speed up research, but also allow for better evidence-based decision making. The competition is open from April 15th to May 13th. The financing is up to 100 000 euros per partner for data harmonization. It should be noted that Portugal has already two Hospitals as partners of EHDEN.
- The European project CHERRIES opened two calls for proposals focused on: “Early detection of the progression in Multiple Sclerosis” and “Breaking and preventing involuntary loneliness among elderly”. Applications are open until April 15th
