Coronavirus - Research

COVID-19 is a novel disease. Urgent funding is therefore needed to further research the disease and develop vaccines.

The European Commission has provided an initial EUR 10 million, subsequently increased to EUR 47.5 million, in funding for this purpose under the "Horizon 2020" programme. The European Commission also finances the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the EU and the pharmaceutical industry through its association EFPIA. This initiative is intended to mobilize up to an additional EUR 90 million.

In Austria, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDW) is currently conducting an emergency call specifically on COVID-19. This funding programme is handled by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the national funding agency for industrial research and development in Austria. Funding is provided for individual R&D projects of Austrian companies that deal with the following topics related to the coronavirus and can be implemented quickly:

• the biology of the virus and its transmission;
• infection prevention and control;
• research and development of drugs and other therapeutic methods as well as the development of new diagnostic approaches.

Further information is available on the websites of the European Commission, BMDW and FFG.

Please note: This newsletter merely provides general information and does not constitute legal advice of any kind from Binder Grösswang Rechtsanwälte GmbH. The newsletter cannot replace individual legal consultation. Binder Grösswang Rechtsanwälte GmbH assumes no liability whatsoever for the content and correctness of the newsletter.