Development of novel small molecule antiviral therapeutics for pathogens with epidemic potential
Cluster 1 - Health (Single stage - 2027/1) · HORIZON-RIA · Needs partners
What this call funds
This call funds research to develop new antiviral drugs against specific viruses that could cause future epidemics, such as Lassa fever, tick-borne encephalitis, and hantaviruses. Projects should take promising drug candidates from lab discovery through animal testing and into first human safety trials, with a clear path to regulatory approval. Antibody-based treatments are not eligible; only small molecule antivirals.
pharmaceuticals · public health · biotechnology · medical devices · research excellence
Who wins this
Research consortia including academic, clinical and biotech/pharma partners (with SME participation encouraged) capable of running the full pipeline from antiviral drug discovery through GMP production and first-in-human clinical trials for a specific epidemic-prone virus.
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The call in detail
- Indicative grant size
- €9M–€11M
- Funding model
- Budget-based — reimbursement of actual eligible costs
- Submission
- Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
- Type of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Partners
- Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
- Also required
- Proposals must target only one of six specified viruses/groups of viruses, exclude antibody-based therapeutics, include first-in-human clinical studies, and any use of satellite earth observation data must rely on Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; US-established legal entities are eligible for funding.
- Eligible countries (45)
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
Read the full conditions from the official call ›
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions, proposal page limit and layout Admissibility conditions are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligibility Conditions 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). Other eligibility conditions are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced project portfolio covering the viruses/groups of viruses targeted in this topic[[Virus/group of viruses i to vi, as given in the scope of this topic.]], grants will be awarded (within available budget) to proposals not only in order of ranking but at least also to those proposals that are the highest ranked within different viruses/groups of viruses targeted, provided that the proposals attain all thresholds. Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold will be 12. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms and additional documents: Application and
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