Commission changes Horizon work programme to reflect its global coronavirus R&D pledge

The European Commission has published an updated work programme for the final year of Horizon 2020 to reflect changes proposed during a fundraising event held in May to boost global R&D efforts against the pandemic.

Back then, the commission said it would divert €675 million of Horizon 2020 funding into research on vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics against COVID-19. The move was part of its contribution to an international pledging event, which sought to raise €7.5 billion from around the world.

However, the updated work programme now says it will redeploy €641 million “not yet allocated” from Horizon 2020, along with “reflows” from financial instruments, and €1 million from the Knowledge and Innovation Communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

The new figure is €33 million less than initially foreseen in May, because the commission has given up on plans to devote an additional €32.5 million to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which was intended to finance the travel of researchers working on international COVID-19 projects.

In the end, the new work programme will see €400 million from Horizon 2020 in risk finance allocated through the European Investment Bank’s InnovFin programme for infectious diseases; €172 million for the expansion of ongoing COVID-19 research projects; €50 million in additional support for vaccines research done by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation; €15.5 million to set up a new research infrastructure to collect population health data from across the EU; and €3.5 million for the deployment of innovative robotics solutions in healthcare.

In addition, before revising the work programme, the commission had already boosted the budget for COVID-19 R&D coordinated by Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the EU and the pharmaceutical industry. IMI is to receive €72 million to support research to develop treatments and diagnostics for COVID-19, instead of the €45 million initially planned.

In total, the EU is set to spend around €1 billion from Horizon 2020 on pandemic R&D. “The €1 billion in funding is already boosting efforts to find solutions to test, treat and prevent coronavirus for all,” said EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

The commission can increase the €641 million figure by 20 per cent if researchers submit a larger number of suitable proposals than foreseen.  

“Research and innovation [are] at the core of our coordinated response, and Horizon 2020 has proven its value as a flexible instrument to address this crisis,” Gabriel said.