05/11/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission announced last August that it had selected 23 research projects that provided a response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects (see EUROPE 12546/13). The key to this call for interest? EUR 128.2 million, which did, however, remain conditional on the signing of the Horizon 2020 grant agreement. This is now a done deal: the Commission reported on Thursday 5 November that it had signed the required grant agreements with the 23 winning projects. These are projects where the research activities should make it possible to “better address various aspects of this and future pandemics” and “increase our capacity to react more quickly to prevent contagion, improve diagnosis and treatment”, said Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Youth and Innovation. (AC)