EU Launches €120 Million ‘BE READY’ Partnership to Strengthen Pandemic Preparedness

The European Union is bolstering its defenses against future health emergencies with the launch of BE READY, a latest European Partnership dedicated to strengthening pandemic preparedness. This initiative, backed by €120 million in funding from the Horizon Europe budget, aims to improve the EU’s ability to anticipate, prevent, and rapidly respond to epidemics, and pandemics.

Addressing Future Health Threats

BE READY will focus on advancing research on emerging and re-emerging pathogens and accelerating the development of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines. The partnership brings together 81 organizations from all 27 EU member states, coordinated by the French agency ANRS-MIE (Emerging Infectious Diseases) [1]. This collaborative effort underscores the EU’s commitment to a unified approach to health security.

Key Pillars of the BE READY Partnership

The BE READY Partnership’s work is built on several key pillars:

• Aligning National Research Priorities: Improving coordination in pandemic preparedness research through agreed strategic and research innovation agendas.
• Supporting Multi-National Research: Utilizing joint transnational calls to fund research on emerging & re-emerging pathogens and accelerate innovation in diagnostics, treatments & vaccines development.
• Integrating the Research Ecosystem: Ensuring all key components of the research ecosystem are operational both during and between epidemics. [2]

Funding and Implementation

The €120 million in funding will be allocated through annual transnational calls for proposals, promoting research into emerging health threats. The first call for proposals, launched by 21 funding organizations, will specifically address the pandemic potential of emerging and re-emerging pathogens and the development of medical countermeasures [1]. Contracts will span 98 months (just over four years), covering the entire process from clinical development to market authorization.

Statements from EU Commissioners

Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, emphasized that Europe’s pandemic preparedness must be built on strong scientific foundations, stating, “Through BE READY, we are putting our citizens’ health first while reinforcing Europe’s innovation leadership.” [2]

Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, added, “BE READY is Europe’s next bold step forward, turning research into real resilience…We are bringing science, research and innovation together, working across borders and institutions to build a stronger Europe, ready to anticipate health threats and respond quickly when lives are at stake.” [2]

EU Vaccines Strategy

This initiative builds upon the EU’s existing vaccines strategy, which focused on securing supplies and facilitating distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the EU [3]. The EU aims to accelerate vaccine development and strengthen its capacity to respond at scale, ensuring new solutions reach national vaccination programs more quickly.