On Friday 11 September, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a €30 million investment agreement with Ethris to support the clinical development of next-generation messenger RNA treatments and vaccines against respiratory viruses, including some that could cause a pandemic.
These products would be administered by inhalation or nasal spray in order to act directly on the sites where viruses enter the body, and the Commission feels that administering them in this way could help limit their transmission.
The investment comes under HERA Invest, is funded to the tune of €130 million by the EU4Health programme, and is integrated into InvestEU. HERA Invest is targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises, and allows the EIB to grant loans that cover up to 50% of a project’s costs when private financing is insufficient.
According to the press release, European Commissioner for both Equality and Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, defended the development of these new treatments and vaccines as a way to better prepare the European Union for a future pandemic. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)