The first projects under the HERA - the new European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (see EUROPE 12792/24) - are beginning to take shape.
On Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 September, the European Commission published three calls for tender to set up these projects.
The first - and most costly - will be to develop the prototype of an interactive platform, where European production and supply capacities for Covid-19 therapeutics (see EUROPE 12795/19), including those in research and development, can be listed. The project will be subsidised to the amount of €5 million.
The other two projects, worth €1 million each, should help protect the EU against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - one of the ten biggest threats to public health today, according to the WHO.
One of these two projects will investigate the implications of bringing more AMR medical countermeasures to the market. The aim is for successful applicants to review the latest countermeasures and analyse any gaps or needs, to present options for action and funding under HERA, and to assess the tools that will enable effective and immediately available products to be brought to the market in the event of a crisis.
The second project will evaluate the possibility of stockpiling these medical countermeasures against AMR. This will involve identifying appropriate stockpiling options and financing mechanisms, along with mapping and assessing systems already operating both within the EU and internationally.
The allocation of €7 million for these three projects will come from the EU4Health programme. Interested candidates will have until 29 October to apply.
To consult the call for tenders for the marketing of AMR medical countermeasures: https://bit.ly/3kEskIR; the stockpiling of these countermeasures: https://bit.ly/39x4I2s; the platform on therapeutics: https://bit.ly/3ALAKny (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)