European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness (Phase 2)

Expected Outcome:

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden”. Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to all the following expected outcomes:

• The EU offers a valued operational network of clinical research sites (both interventional and observational) that have the capacity to implement well-coordinated large-scale multi-country quality clinical studies in different target populations, which are able to smoothly transition to interventions relevant for cross-border health threats in readiness for or response to a public health emergency.
• Key stakeholders, including relevant EU and national entities, the scientific communities, policymakers and funders enhance their collaboration and coordination to strengthen research on pandemic preparedness and response, forming a strong, structured and comprehensive ecosystem with shared evidence, tools and methodologies cutting across sectors.
• Research funders, policymakers, relevant EU and national entities, and the research community recognise and rapidly close relevant research and related infrastructure gaps and break existing silos on pandemic preparedness research and response, adopting a One Health approach.
• Healthcare authorities, regulatory authorities, policymakers and other stakeholders utilise research results to develop evidence-based strategies and policies for pandemic preparedness and response, and deploy good practices to European countries and regions, and beyond whenever relevant.
• The research community benefits from and uses an improved comprehensive knowledge framework integrating the EU, national/regional data and information infrastructures to improve transnational research in the area of pandemic preparedness and response.
• The EU is strengthened as an internationally recognised actor for pandemic preparedness research and response, as such substantially contributing to global cooperation and coordination.

Scope:

This topic targets an action under Article 24(2) HE Regulation aiming to add additional activities to existing grant agreements, together with additional partners (if relevant) that would deliver on those activities. The award of a grant to continue the partnership in accordance with this call should be based on a proposal submitted by the coordinator of the consortium funded under topic HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-12-01: “European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness” and the additional activities (which may include additional partners) to be funded by the grant, such as the close coordination with the Clinical Trial Coordination Mechanism (CT-CM) [1] , should be subject to an evaluation. The partnership should be firmly anchored within the framework of the European Health Union package [2] and ensure synergies with the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and other relevant Commission services. The partnership’s activities are expected to be key enablers of the EU Global Health Strategy [3] . Taking into account that the present action is a continuation of the topic HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-12-01: “European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness” and foresees an amendment to an existing grant agreement, the proposal should present the additional activities (including additional partners) to be covered by the award primarily in terms of grant agreement revisions. The existing action, the “Be Ready Now - European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness” (BE READY NOW) can only reasonably be enhanced and enlarged on the basis of the existing consortium [4] , as the co-funded framework established cannot simply be replaced without significant disruption, given the top-quality, long-term expertise and wide coverage of the beneficiaries comprising this consortium. The partnership should contribute to the actions proposed in the Joint Communication on the European Preparedness Union Strategy (JOIN(2025) 130 final [5] ) which recognises the essential contribution of research and innovation to allow “continuously adapted, optimised and state-of-the-art responses to crisis”. It should also contribute to the “Strategy for European Life Sciences” [6] . Synergies with EU programmes such as EU4Health Programme (2021-2027) [7] or the Digital Europe Programme [8] are encouraged. The co-funded Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness should enable improved coordination and cooperation on national and European levels (and contributing globally), building on the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) [9] established in the first phase of the partnership. The partnership’s implementation is grounded in coordinating and jointly funding transnational research, combined with a strong focus on integrative ‘in-house’ activities, ultimately reinforcing the readiness of Europe’s research ecosystem. As a continuation of an existing action, the proposal should present the additional activities (including additional partners) to be covered by the award primarily in terms of grant agreement revisions. The partnership should cover the full scope of preparedness research, ranging from basic and pre-clinical research, to clinical, public health, social sciences and implementation research. The partnership will consider the interplay between environmental, ecological and climatic factors and the emergence and spread of health threats and will adopt a One Health approach to better understand and mitigate the risks of emerging infectious diseases. Of particular interest is the consolidation and further development of the ever-warm clinical research network, comprising both observational and interventional studies, ensuring continuous clinical research activity across diverse sites, and with the in-built capacity to rapidly respond to public health emergencies. In this regard, the partnership should ensure that provisions are in place for the close coordination with the CT-CM, which i) should facilitate providing scientific advice on the clinical research needs in preparedness and response to public health emergencies, and ii) promote a coordinated approach to the national and EU funding of identified clinical research needs. The partnership should strengthen the European Research Area by supporting excellence in innovative research and capacity building, widening the engagement of countries not yet involved. As a demonstration of its added value, the partnership should be able to attract the engagement of a broad range of stakeholders beyond European health authorities and research funders, such as private and philanthropic actors and innovators. The participation of start-ups, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [10] is encouraged with the aim of strengthening their scientific and technological foundations, enhancing their innovation potential, and exploring possibilities for commercial exploitation. The relevant European research infrastructures [11] in the area of health should be exploited for available services, expertise and digital tools for dataset creation, standardisation, data discovery, secure access, management, visualization, harmonization, analysis and other functions as appropriate. When defining calls for proposals in the context of jointly funded transnational research, the partnership should consider sex and identity-related differences. If relevant, it also needs to consider the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. The support and involvement of citizens and civil society should be considered. The partnership will consolidate a suitable health research data ecosystem aligned wi