Call for proposals to support the development of novel antivirals (HERA) - CP-g-24-105

Topic updates

06 December 2024

12 September 2024

Call EU4H-2024-PJ-01 has closed on 05/09/2024.

15 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:
EU4H-2024-PJ-01-4: 2 proposals

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in November 2024.

Call for proposals to support the development of novel antivirals (HERA) - CP-g-24-105

TOPIC ID: EU4H-2024-PJ-01-4

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme: EU4 Health Programme (EU4H)

Call: HERA Action Grants - first wave (EU4H-2024-PJ-01)

Type of action: EU4H-PJG EU4H Project Grants

Type of MGA: EU4H Action Grant Budget-Based [EU4H-AG]

Status: Open for submission

Deadline model: single-stage

Opening Date: 23 May 2024

Deadline dates: 05 September 2024 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Objective:

This action supports the policy priority to be better prepared to respond to serious cross-border health threats. It contributes to the achievement of the EU4Health Programme’s general objective of protecting people in the Union from serious cross-border threats to health and strengthening the responsiveness of health systems and coordination among the Member States to cope with serious cross-border threats to health (Article 3, point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2021/522) through the specific objectives defined in Article 4, points (b) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2021/522.

Scope:

This action aims to diversify and advance the pipeline of BSA candidates. More specifically, it will support the development and further characterisation of broad-spectrum antivirals targeting identified HERA priority viral families, which largely can be divided among respiratory RNA viral families, such as Paramyxo-, Orthomyxo and Coronaviridae, as well as those targeting viral families known for causing viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF), such as Arena-, Bunya-, Flavi-, Filoviridae. The action aims to identify a potent BSA candidate, in order to advance its clinical development. A robust pipeline should contain multiple BSA candidates for each viral family that are developed in parallel. When selecting the BSA candidate, attention will be paid to the complementarity with existing Horizon Europe projects.

The proposal would need to cover early safety and efficacy trials for testing new or improved anti-viral therapeutics, with a clear regulatory and clinical pathway, including first in humans.

Innovative delivery systems and suitable safety profiles for broad use should be considered when possible as well as the application of novel approaches and widely applicable workflows (e.g. artificial intelligence) for rapid and reliable identification of broad-spectrum anti-viral therapeutics.

Expected Impact:

HERA’s threat assessment of 2022 included a vulnerability analysis with regard to the availability or absence of medical countermeasures, in particular the availability of vaccines and treatment options. Given that the large majority of identified virus families lack effective vaccines and/or effective therapeutics at the EU and global levels, HERA’s long-term aim is to, inter alia, support the creation of a diverse portfolio of BSAs and BCCs that can be further developed in clinical by identifying most promising candidates and supporting their characterisation and assessment, including through clinical trials. Actions funded under this topic are therefore expected to either bring innovative, emerging, and cutting-edge elements with significant economic potential to the internal market or to reduce or prevent strategic dependencies of the Union, including by contributing to the Union's technological leadership in the innovation and development of BSA and enhancing the access to these products in the EU.

Conditions

1.Admissibility conditions: described in section 5 of the call document

Proposal page limits and layout:described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System

2. Eligible countries:described in section 6 of of the call document

3. Other eligibility conditions:described in section 6 of the call document

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion:described insection 7 of the call document

5.Evaluation and award:

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds:described in section 9 of the call document

• Submission and evaluation processes:describedsection 8 of the call document and theOnline Manual

• Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement:described in section 4 of the call document

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants:describedin section 10 of the call document

Start submission

To access the Electronic Submission Service, please click on the submission-button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to your proposal. You will then be asked to confirm your choice, as it cannot be changed in the submission system. Upon confirmation, you will be linked to the correct entry point.

To access existing draft proposals for this topic, please login to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section.

Get support

For help related to thiscall, please contact:HaDEA-HP-CALLS@ec.europa.eu

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ– Submission of proposals.

IT Helpdesk– Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

Online Manual– Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and submission to reporting on your on-going project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.