Support healthcare system resilience through a focus on persistency in the treatment of chronic diseases
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
IHI JU is based on the idea that interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration will enable perspective and breakthrough innovations in healthcare, including the pharmaceutical industry but also new fields such as biopharmaceuticals, medical technologies and biotechnologies.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The scope of this topic is to improve treatment persistency among people living with chronic diseases. According to the MEDI-VOICE project funded by the European Commission, non-adherence to medication accounted for approximately 200 000 deaths annually in the European Union, and according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report from 2003, around 50 % of people living with a chronic disease do not adhere to the prescribed medication. From a recent analysis by Kvarnström et al (2018), the major barriers for adherence to medication range from a lack of disease knowledge by the patient to logistical barriers like availability of medication and price (see list below), ultimately leading to discontinuation of medication.
Detailed Call Description
The major categories of barriers identified are:
- patient specific, e.g. lack of knowledge, lack of routines, poor health literacy, gender, transition from paediatric to adult care, socioeconomic background;
- disease specific, e.g. lack of symptoms, lack of improvement, illness fatigue;
- treatment specific, e.g. side effects, complexity in dosages, inconvenience;
- healthcare and system specific, e.g., poor communication among stakeholders including e.g. physicians, patients, pharmacies, insurance providers, service providers, policy makers;
- social and culture specific, e.g. stigmas, religious belief, other alternatives;
- logistic and finance specific, e.g., price, renewal of prescription.
To address these barriers, this topic is expected to focus on the healthcare- and system-specific categories. The barriers to persistency identified in the list above are strongly interlinked, and in an effort to better understand the healthcare ecosystem in relation to persistency, it is the goal to especially explore the interface between the patient and healthcare providers. It is well-described that a lack of timely and accurate interaction/communication between patient and healthcare provider is key. Patients may lack education about their disease(s) and when support is minimal and there is insufficient patient counselling available, it can leave the patient with unanswered questions which might lead to discontinuation of their medication. In addition, social components, in particular health equalities including stigma and financial barriers, will also be in focus.
In this topic we propose a strong public-private coalition to help define and drive new models for collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem to improve persistency. This is to the benefit of patients as well as healthcare system sustainability by leveraging scalable technology that may hold the key to improving healthcare at the same time as providing it to many more individuals projected to have chronic diseases. A key component to successful implementation will be the patient voice and user experience.
It is planned to:
- share experiences and insights from existing pilots in specific healthcare environments and disease areas;
- use both observational and diverse clinical research methodologies to demonstrate impact, including health economics and outcomes research;
- drive fit-for-purpose studies to secure the evidence needed to maximise impact – particularly moving from test to scale;
- foster close collaboration between industry and academia within this field to ensure fast and feasible execution in real-world settings;
- build internal understanding & competencies within persistency to inform drug, study and service development;
- build training programmes for healthcare stakeholders;
- analyse how the new learnings/insights might be implemented in clinical treatment guidelines.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
Maximum financial contribution per topic: €11.300.000
Thematic Categories
- Health
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
Eligibility For Participation Notes
ENTITIES ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING
In relation to the two-stage calls for proposals covered by this Work Programme, the following provisions shall apply:
- Legal entities identified in the topic text of the call for proposals shall not be eligible for funding from IHI JU. Nevertheless:
- These entities will be entitled to provide contributions as IHI JU members other than Union or contributing partners or as constituent or affiliated entities of either.
- Legal entities participating in indirect actions selected under this type of calls for proposals shall not be eligible for funding where:
(a) they are for-profit legal entities with an annual turnover of EUR 500 million or more;
(b) they are under the direct or indirect control of a legal entity described in point (a), or under the same direct or indirect control as a legal entity described in point (a);
(c) they are directly or indirectly controlling a legal entity referred to in point (a).
The following additional condition applies:
- The applicants which are IHI JU members other than the Union, or their constituent entities and affiliated entities, and contributing partners and that are pre-identified in the topics – under the section ‘Industry consortium’ – of a call for proposals shall not apply at the first stage of the call. The applicant consortium selected at the first stage shall, in preparation for the proposal submission at the second stage, merge with the pre-identified industry consortium.
In addition, in line with Articles 11 and 119(1) and (3) of the Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085, legal entities providing in-kind contributions as constituent entities or affiliated entities of IHI JU private members or as contributing partners that are:
- Not eligible for funding in two-stage calls for proposals; or
- Not established in a country generally eligible for funding in accordance with Part B of the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023 – 2024, may exceptionally sign the grant agreement.
This is subject to the following conditions:
- Their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority; and
- They participate without requesting any funding.
The essentiality of non-EU legal entities for implementing the action shall be ascertained by the granting authority.
COUNTRY SPECIFIC ELIGIBILITY RULES
Following the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, participation in IHI JU indirect actions will be open but eligibility for funding will be however limited to legal entities established in an EU Member State, Associated Country or Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Given the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, legal entities established in Russia, Belarus or in any occupied territory of Ukraine are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons, such as for humanitarian purposes, civil society support or people-to-people contacts.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
EU Contact Point
All the questions pertaining to the IHI JU Calls are to be addressed to infodesk@ihi.europa.eu.