Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU Commission signed an agreement to back research and development in cross-border health threats.
The European Commission, via its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and the European Investment Bank, have marked a deal worth €20 million with the French biopharmaceutical company Fabentech. The agreement will back the company’s growth and deployment of its broad-spectrum therapeutics to fight biological threats to public health.
According to the Commission, HERA’s threat analysis has revealed the importance of developing Fabentech’s technology platform, which depends on the production of broad-spectrum polyclonal antibody fragments, which identify and counteract pathogens and toxins in the human body. Fabentech seeks to rapidly develop and produce new immunotherapies, assisting in a more effective response to public health emergencies.
As reported by the EU this agreement is the first of its type under HERA Invest. More investments are in the channel with other European companies. They will stimulate innovation to respond to priority health threats, such as pathogens with high pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats, and resistance to antibiotics.
What health threats are prioritized under HERA Invest’s funding?
A flagship endeavour of HERA, HERA Invest is a €100 million top-up to the InvestEU programme funded by the EU4Health programme which ultimately serves to protect citizens against health threats. Geared towards small and mid-sized businesses, it enables R&D in Europe to strengthen open strategic autonomy, lower market failures where available financial resources do not protect the financing needs, and leverage public grants to incentivise private investment in the development of new medical countermeasures.
Under HERA Invest, the European Investment Bank (EIB) supplies venture loans which cover a maximum of 50% of total project expenses. Together with HERA, the EIB considers whether an operation meets HERA Invest’s defined criteria and the project’s commercial and scientific viability.
Moreover, in 2022, HERA, together with the Member States, recognised three specific high-impact health threats for which it is critical to ensure preparedness and response. To ensure the availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures, HERA funds the development, production capacity and scaling-up of manufacturing, procurement and potential stockpiling of medicinal products, diagnostics, medical instruments, and personal protective gear as well as other medical countermeasures.
