Partnerships in Health (2026/1)

Topics under this destination are directed towards the Key Strategic Orientation 3 “A more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe” of Horizon Europe’s strategic plan 2025-2027^[1].

Research and Innovation supported under this destination should contribute to the following expected impact, set out in the strategic plan impact summary for the Health Cluster: “healthcare providers improve their ability to tackle and manage diseases (infectious diseases, including poverty-related and neglected diseases, non-communicable and rare diseases) thereby reducing the disease burden on patients and enabling healthcare systems to perform more effectively. It can be achieved through better understanding, prevention, diagnostics, treatment, management, and cure of diseases and their co- and multi-morbidities, more effective and innovative health technologies and medical countermeasures, better ability and preparedness to manage pandemic and/or epidemic outbreaks, and improved patient safety”.

Communicable and non-communicable diseases pose a significant health, societal, and economic threat worldwide, causing premature deaths and disabilities. Despite being largely preventable, only 6% of healthcare budgets are spent on prevention^[2]. To address this, there is an urgent need to develop new public health interventions, preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches, alternatives to antimicrobials, as well as to improve existing preparedness and response strategies to create tangible impacts, considering sex/gender-related issues. To address these challenges, Research and Innovation will require international cooperation to leverage global expertise, access world-class research infrastructures and invest in priority needs, aligning with other funders of international cooperation in health Research and Innovation. The continuation of international partnerships and cooperation with international organisations is particularly needed to combat infectious diseases and respond to public health needs, including rare diseases and the global burden of non-communicable diseases.

In this Work Programme part, Destination “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden” will focus on major societal challenges linked to the Commission's Political Guidelines for 2024-2029^[3], such as the fight against non-communicable and communicable diseases, mental health, preparedness and response to and surveillance of health threats and epidemics, reduction and treatment, of Antimicrobial-Resistant (AMR) infections, coherent also with wider EU initiatives such as the European Medical Countermeasures Strategy^[4] and the forthcoming Critical Medicines Act^[5]. In particular, the topics under this destination will support activities aiming at: i) new treatment and disease management options to reduce burden on non-communicable diseases and long-term conditions after post-bacterial and post-viral infections; ii) improve and protect mental health of children and young adults; iii) new prevention and treatment options for infectious diseases with epidemic potential; iv) innovative therapies for AMR critical pathogens; and v) support to second phases of the co-funded European Partnership on Rare Diseases^[6] and the co-funded European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness^[7].

To increase the impact of EU investments under Horizon Europe, the Commission encourages cooperation between EU-funded projects to enable cross-fertilisation and other synergies. This could range from networking to joint activities, such as participating in joint workshops, exchanging knowledge, developing and adopting best practices, or undertaking joint communication activities. Opportunities for potential synergies exist between projects funded under the same topic, as well as between projects funded under different topics, Clusters, or Pillars of Horizon Europe. For example, synergies could be sought with projects funded under the European health research infrastructures (Pillar I of Horizon Europe), the EIC^[8] strategic challenges on health (Pillar III of Horizon Europe), or with projects on themes that cut across the Clusters under Pillar II of Horizon Europe, such as health security/emergencies under Cluster “Civil Security for Society”, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tools and technologies under Cluster “Digital, Industry and Space”, or antimicrobial resistance under Cluster “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”.

The Commission aims to foster synergies between Horizon Europe and other EU programmes. To this end, applicants are encouraged to explore the funding opportunities available through the EU4Health Programme (2021-2027)^[9], the EU's public health programme, as a means of capitalising on potential collaborations and maximising impact.

Expected impacts:

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to tackling diseases and reducing disease burden, and more specifically to several of the following impacts:

• Disease burden in the EU and worldwide is reduced through effective disease management, including through the development and integration of innovative preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, digital and other people-centred solutions for healthcare.
• Premature mortality from non-communicable diseases is reduced by one third (by 2030), mental health and wellbeing are promoted, and the targets of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of non-communicable diseases^[10],[11] are attained, with an immediate impact on the related disease burden (Disability-Adjusted Life Years - DALYs)^[12].
• Healthcare systems benefit from strengthened Research and Innovation expertise, human capacities and know-how for combatting communicable and non-communicable diseases, including through international cooperation.
• Citizens benefit from reduced (cross-border) health threat of epidemics and AMR pathogens, in the EU and worldwide^{[13],[14],[15]}.
• Patients and citizens are knowledgeable of disease threats, involved and empowered to make and shape decisions for their health, and better adhere to knowledge-based disease management strategies and policies (especially for controlling outbreaks and emergencies).

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in the Annex B of the General Annexes of this Work Programme.

The protection of European communication networks has been identified as an important security interest of the Union and its Member States. Entities that are assessed as high-risk suppliers^[16] of mobile network communication equipment (and any entities they own or control) are not eligible to participate as beneficiaries, affiliated entities and associated partners to topics identified as “subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks”. Please refer to the Annex B of the General Annexes of this Work Programme for further details.

[1] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/strategic-plan_en

[2] Preventive healthcare expenditure as a share of the current expenditure on healthcare: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Preventive_healthcare_expenditure_as_a_share_of_current_expenditure_on_healthcare,_2021_(%25)_HCE2024.png

[3] https://commission.europa.eu/about/commission-2024-2029_en

[4] https://health.ec.europa.eu/health-emergency-preparedness-and-response-hera/preparedness/medical-countermeasures-strategy_en

[5] https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-critical-medicines-act_en

[6] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101156595, https://erdera.org

[7] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101226682, https://beready4pandemics.eu

[8] https://eic.ec.europa.eu

[9] https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/eu4health_en

[10] https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506236

[11] https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/implementation-roadmap-2023-2030-for-the-who-global-action-plan-for-the-prevention-and-control-of-ncds-2023-2030

[12] Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) is a quantitative indicator of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.

[13] WHO global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, 2015

[14] EU One Health Action Plan against AMR, 2017

[15] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/one-health-joint-framework-action-published-five-eu-agencies

[16] Entities assessed as “high-risk suppliers”, are currently set out in the second report on Member States’ progress in implementing the EU toolbox on 5G cybersecurity of 2023 (NIS Cooperation Group, Second report on Member States’ progress in implementing the EU Toolbox on 5G Cybersecurity, June 2023) and the related Communication on the implementation of the 5G cybersecurity toolbox of 2023 (Communication from the Commission: Implementation of the 5G cybersecurity Toolbox, Brussels, 15.6.2023 C(2023) 4049 final).

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”. To that end, 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 is reinforced as an internationally recognised driver of research and innovation in Rare Diseases (RD) and thereby substantially contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to rare diseases.
• Research funders align, adopt and implement their RD research policies allowing for the optimal generation and translation of knowledge into meaningful health products and interventions responding to the needs of people living with a rare disease across Europe and globally.
• The RD research community at large benefit from and use an improved comprehensive knowledge framework and cross-border FAIR^[1] data access and analysis, including rare diseases registries, by integrating the EU, national/regional data and information infrastructures to improve translational research.
• People living with a rare disease, including those from underrepresented communities, benefit from a more timely, equitable access to innovative, sustainable and high-quality healthcare including novel diagnosis and treatments, taking stock of highly integrated research and healthcare systems.
• Researchers, innovators -as well as people living with a rare disease and their advocates (as co-creators)- effectively constitute and operate into an integrated research and innovation ecosystem to deliver cost-effective diagnosis and treatments.
• Public and private actors, including civil society (e.g. Non-Governmental Organisations, charities), establish coordinated and efficient multi-stakeholder collaborations at EU and national (including regional) levels, allowing for more effective clinical research, for example aiming at improved success rates of therapeutic development.

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-2023-DISEASE-07-01: “European Partnership on Rare Diseases” and the additional activities (which may include additional partners) to be funded by the grant should be subject to an evaluation. Taking into account that the present action is a continuation of the topic HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-07-01: “European Partnership on Rare Diseases” 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 “European Rare Diseases Research Alliance” (ERDERA) can only reasonably be enhanced and enlarged on the basis of the existing consortium^[2], 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 proposal should thus present the specific additional activities (including, if relevant, additional partners) foreseen for the second instalment of the partnership. The partnership should continue to contribute to priorities of the communication “On effective, accessible and resilient health systems” (COM(2014) 215 final)^[3], the “Communication from the Commission on enabling the digital transformation of health and care in the Digital Single Market; empowering citizens and building a healthier society” (COM(2018) 233 final)^[4], the "Council conclusions on the Future of the European Health Union: A Europe that cares, prepares and protects" (9900/24)^[5] and support the objectives of the EU4Health Programme (2021-2027)^[6].

This partnership should also contribute to achieving the objectives of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe^[7], in terms of fulfilling unmet medical needs and catalysing the clinical development of medicines for rare diseases (i.e. “orphan medicinal products”) and ensuring that the benefits of research and innovation reach patients in the EU and the Associated Countries. Moreover, the partnership is expected to contribute and align with the objectives of the Directive 2911/24/EU on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare^[8] and of the European Health Data Space (EHDS)^[9].

Thanks to its capacity to bring together different stakeholders (e.g. research funders, health authorities, healthcare institutions, innovators, policymakers), the partnership will strengthen the European Research Area and consolidate the European research and innovation ecosystem with a critical mass of resources, and implement a long-term Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)^[10].

The co-funded European Partnership on Rare Diseases should be implemented based on the priorities identified in the SRIA and through a joint programme of activities ranging from coordinating and funding transnational and clinical research to highly integrative and community-driven ‘in-house’ activities such as innovation strategies for the efficient exploitation of research results, EU clinical trial preparedness activities, optimisation of research infrastructures^[11] and resources, including networking, training and dissemination activities. To this end, proposals are expected to build on the first phase of this partnership and should be structured along the following main objectives:

• Launch joint transnational calls for RD research and innovation actions, aligned with SRIA priorities, to fund patient-need-driven research across Europe, ensuring effective cross-border collaboration and scalability, while demonstrating short, medium and long-term impact and value creation through financial support to third parties and a rigorous monitoring strategy of research outputs.
• Further establish, strengthen and develop the different components of a European Clinical Research Network (CRN) to boost clinical trial readiness and capacity to readily implement well-coordinated multi-national clinical studies on rare diseases, building on the European Reference Networks (ERNs). The partnership is expected to showcase the CRN’s contribution to the cost-effective therapeutic development and decrease in diagnostic timelines linked with improvement in health outcomes ensuring durable collaboration among research, clinical, and regulatory actors.
• Advance and consolidate the capacity building of the RD data ecosystem by supporting interoperable and/or federated cross-border access and analysis of FAIR research and healthcare data, including rare disease registries, ensuring ongoing their usability more efficient translational and clinical research, including regulatory science. The relevant European research infrastructures in the area of health should be exploited for available services, expertise and digital tools for the management and analyses of FAIR health data, as appropriate.
• Integrate basic, pre-clinical, clinical and implementation research to streamline the Research and Innovation (R&I) continuum and minimise redundancies, ensuring lasting impact on the quality of life of the people living with a rare disease while strengthening systemic efficiency and cost-effectiveness. To that end, the partnership should mobilise a significant investment to spur innovation, by aligning regional, national and European R&I priorities and improving EU competitiveness in R&I.
• Support research and innovation across key intervention areas (prevention, diagnosis, treatment), and promote the sustainable uptake of existing health innovations in clinical practice through coordinated training, implementation research, and active stakeholder engagement.
• Contribute to and align with the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC)^[12] to reinforce Europe’s global leadership, ensure policy coherence, and sustain long-term strategic alignment beyond the lifetime of the partnership. To that end, an optimised assessment of the European contribution to IRDiRC would be beneficial to ensure complementarity and avoid overlaps.

This topic requires 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, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Collaboration with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) should be considered to materialise the sharing of (meta)data regarding registries for rare diseases, exchanging data for clinical studies and research based on a unified pseudonymisation tool provided by the European Platform on Rare Disease Registration (EU RD Platform) and related tools and services, as well as in other areas of mutual interest, such as training and capacity building.

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[1] See definition of FAIR data in the introduction to this Work Programme part.

[2] Consortium which was awarded the grant under topic HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-07-01: “European Partnership on Rare Diseases”.

[3] https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/communication-commission-com2014-215-final_en

[4] https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/commission-communication-com-2018-233_en

[5] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/06/21/european-health-union-council-calls-on-commission-to-keep-health-as-a-priority

[6] https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/eu4health_en

[7] https://health.ec.europa.eu/medicinal-products/pharmaceutical-strategy-europe_en

[8] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2011/24/oj/eng in particular articles 12 and 13 respectively on European Reference Networks (ERNs) and rare diseases

[9] https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/european-health-data-space-regulation-ehds_en

[10] https://erdera.org/strategic-research-innovation-agenda-sria

[11] The relevant European research infrastructures in the area of health should be exploited for available services, expertise and digital tools for dataset creation, standardisation, data discovery, secure access, management, visualisation, harmonisation, analysis and other functions as appropriate. The catalogue of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) research infrastructures portfolio can be browsed on the ESFRI website: https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu

[12] https://irdirc.org