Pilot actions for follow-on funding: Leveraging EU-funded collaborative research in regenerative medicine
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
R&I is essential for economic growth and boosting the competitiveness of the EU’s life sciences sector. Through the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Framework Programmes, the EU has supported projects that significantly impact our health by fostering scientific discoveries and developing new solutions.
Transformational health innovations, such as mRNA vaccines, highlight the importance of collaboration among businesses, research institutions, and healthcare providers. Furthermore, sustained funding throughout the entire value chain is crucial for maximising impact and ensuring more products reach patients faster.
The main aim of this topic is to pilot a follow-on funding mechanism, supporting the stepwise development of biotech innovations through collaboration, resulting from previously supported EU R&I actions in the field of health. This topic contributes to strengthening the R&I ecosystem within the EU and supports the implementation of the “Strategy for European Life Sciences”. Given the importance of biotechnology as a critical technology, this topic aims to ensure that promising research results are efficiently taken further along the value chain, speeding the time to market or patient through stepwise funding and increasing the EU’s competitiveness.
The chosen area of focus is regenerative medicine as it has the potential to heal or replace tissues and organs damaged by age, disease, or trauma, as well as to normalise congenital defects. Proposals should focus on prototyping, demonstrating and validating health innovations from TRL 5, moving beyond early-stage research to clinical development, testing, or eventual large-scale manufacturing. The previously funded EU research on which the proposal is build should be applicable to the field of regenerative medicine and should have clear exploitation potential and/or socio-economic benefits for the patients.
Detailed Call Description
Applicants are expected to:
- Demonstrate in their proposal that the health product, therapy or service, has been successfully validated at preclinical level in the prior EU funded project and provide justification of the innovation potential with qualitative and quantitative data (e.g. publications, patent/trademark/design applications, spin-out/start-up track record, regulatory procedures, venture capital pitches, funds raised etc).
- Justify the proposed composition of the consortium and explain how this differs from the previous grant, and demonstrate how the health product, therapy or service to be developed further qualifies as regenerative medicine.
- Demonstrate adequate protection of the idea or Intellectual Property Rights or ensure freedom to operate until full deployment.
- Have a clear vision on the intended pathway to patients and/or route to market, including regulatory compliance. This includes defining specific milestones together with concrete and verifiable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess progress towards the market or healthcare settings.
- Identify the target patient group(s) (how many patients to be treated during the project and the potential patient population that could benefit) and product development milestones including a financial plan (for each milestone).
In the case of innovations with commercial potential, proposals should present the investor and market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, business case and business model, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) as well as aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation and reimbursement.
In the case of innovations with evidenced limited commercial potential but high patient benefit, proposals should contain a deployment and sustainability plan including aspects related to regulations, certification and standardisation and patient access through healthcare providers.
Proposals should take into account sex, gender, age and other relevant socio-demographic variables to ensure the scientific robustness, clinical value and applicability of the targeted regenerative medicine innovation.
Applicants should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. As proposals under this topic are expected to include clinical studies, the use of the template is strongly encouraged.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
Expected EU contribution per project: between €6.00 million and €8.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Economy-Finances
- Health
- Industry
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Investment Funds
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Eligibility For Participation Notes
The proposals must be based on results generated within a prior multi-beneficiary project funded under Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe Framework Programme. This project must have been completed maximum 3 years before the submission deadline.
Applicants must explicitly state in their proposal the prior multi-beneficiary project concerned. Projects funded under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions are not considered eligible. Projects funded under co-funded European Partnerships or ERANETs are considered eligible. Ongoing projects[[Projects that have not been completed before the submission deadline.]] are not considered eligible.
In recognition of the opening of the US National Institutes of Health’s programmes to European researchers, any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
George Christou
Scientific Officer
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy