European Commission Research & Innovation Initiatives and Programme Opportunities

Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)

Snapshot overview

The Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) aims to foster innovation across the health industry, covering the entire cycle of healthcare, in close cooperation with industry players.
Under the 2024 work programme, two calls are open.

Name

Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)

Institution/ DG/ Agency responsible at EU-level

European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)

Work programme
Programme

IHI is a joint undertaking under Horizon Europe.

Programme budget

The total indicative budget for the duration of IHI is EUR 1,2 billion. In addition, EUR 1,2 billion are expected to come from the partnership’s partners.

Project budget

Depending on the specific call. For further detail, please see below.

  • IHI call 6 (two-stage call), including Topic 1: Support healthcare system resilience through a focus on persistency in the treatment of chronic diseases and Topic 2: Development of evidence based practical guidance for sponsors on the use of real-world data / real-world evidence
      • Budget: EUR 24,6 million
      • Expected contributions: Around EUR 13,3 million
      • Indicative number of grants: 1
  • IHI call 7 (one stage call), including Topic 1: Improving clinical management of heart disease from early detection to treatment, Topic 2: User-centric technologies and optimised hospital workflows for a sustainable healthcare workforce, and Topic 3: Clinical validation of biomarkers for diagnosis, monitoring disease progression and treatment response
      • Budget: EUR 95 million
      • Expected contributions: Between EUR 10-15 million
      • Indicative number of grants: 3
      • The maximum financial contribution from IHI JU for these topics is: EUR 95 million
Type of funding

Grant, contribution may be required depending on the specific call.

Target participants

IHI funding primarily supports the participation in its projects of organisations like universities, research organisations, patient organisations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and mid-sized companies. Depending on the type of call for proposals, larger companies may also be eligible to receive IHI funding.

Programme scope

IHI JU aims to pioneer a new, more integrated approach to health research, building on the experience gained from the Innovative Medicine Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (IMI2 JU). IHI JU also builds on the learnings from the health activities in the former ECSEL/KDT JU, now Chips JU, such as enabling electronics components and systems, and the establishment of pilot production lines for smart medical devices and implants involving diverse medtech actors, which are of high relevance for future activities under IHI JU.

Participant criteria

Applicants based in the following geographical areas are eligible for funding:

  • European Union Member States
  • Countries associated to Horizon Europe
  • Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

The following types of applicants are eligible for funding:

  • SMEs and larger enterprises
  • NPOs
  • Academia
  • Public sector
Project duration

Depending on the specific project

Average time from submission to project kick-off

The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement, described in Annex F of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024, is as follows:

  • Information on the outcome of the evaluation: Around 5 months from the deadline for submission
  • Indicative date for the signing of grant agreements: Around 8 months from the deadline for submission

For two-stage calls, the timing is different (for the evaluation result: around 3 months from the deadline for submission for the first stage and around 5 months from the deadline for submission for the second stage; for signature of the grant agreement: around 8 months from the second stage deadline for submission).

R&D stage

Any

Intellectual property

Unknown

Project database
  • IHI call 6 (two-stage call):
    • Topic 1: Support healthcare system resilience through a focus on persistency in the treatment of chronic diseases: Call for proposals here
    • Topic 2: Development of evidence based practical guidance for sponsors on the use of real-world data / real-world evidence: Call for proposals here
  • IHI call 7 (one stage call):
    • Topic 1: Improving clinical management of heart disease from early detection to treatment: Call for proposals here
    • Topic 2: User-centric technologies and optimised hospital workflows for a sustainable healthcare workforce: Call for proposals here
    • Topic 3: Clinical validation of biomarkers for diagnosis, monitoring disease progression and treatment response: Call for proposals here
Status
  • IHI call 6: Open
    • Draft topic texts published: 23 October 2023, updated 28 November 2023. Approved topics published 09 January 2024.
    • Call launch: 16 January 2024
    • Short proposal submission deadline: 16 April 2024 at 17:00 Brussels time
    • Full proposal submission deadline: 10 October 2024 at 17:00 Brussels time
  • IHI call 7: Open
    • Draft topic texts published: 23 October 2023, updated 28 November 2023. Approved topics published 09 January 2024
    • Call launch: 16 January 2024
    • Full proposal submission deadline: 22 May 2024 at 17:00 Brussels time

What type of funding are you looking for?

  • Grant:
    Grants are direct financial contributions from the European Union budget awarded by way of a donation to third-party beneficiaries (usually non-profit-making organisations) engaged in activities that serve EU policies.
  • Loan:
    Loans are measures of financial support provided on a complementary basis from the budget in order to address specific policy objectives of the European Union. Such instruments are implemented in partnership with public and private institutions such as banks, venture capitalists or angel investors.

What stage of development are you seeking R&I funding for?

  • Basic science: Basic science covers the various exploratory steps even prior to discovery
  • Discovery: Drug discovery aims to find potential disease-altering targets, such as a gene or a protein in humans. Prior to testing candidate compounds for safety
  • Preclinical development: Preclinical development concerns the testing of candidate compounds for safety in specific indications or disease conditions. Introduction of candidate compound in living biological systems (animals)
  • Phase 1 clinical trials: These are the first clinical trials on humans(usually 20-80 volunteers) testing the safety, side effects, best dose, and timing of a new treatment
  • Phase 21/2b clinical trials: This is the follow-up trial with roughly 100 to 500 patients to analyse efficacy and safety
  • Phase 3 clinical trials: These trials usually involve several hundreds to many thousands patients and tests the results of earlier clinical trials on larger populations to generate robust data on safety, efficacy and benefit-risk relationships of the medicine. Comparison to placebo and/or active comparator (best standard treatment)
  • Registration & launch: This concerns post-study, prior to launch, activities related to market launch. That can include, among others, marketing authorisation, regulatory activities, post-study communication or HTA
  • Introduction & delivery: This concerns all post-launch activities

What do you want to develop?

  • Treatment or vaccine:
    Refers to a drug or vaccine
  • Diagnostic or medical device:
    Refers to diagnostics and medical devices
  • Platform:
    Refers to a digital health platform or medical app
  • Knowledge:
    Refers to conducting research to help build our understanding on a topic
  • Standards:
    Refers to creating a benchmark for a specific issue

What type of organisation are you?

  • Small & medium-sized enterprises:
    <250 employees, annual revenue <EUR 50,000,000) or balance sheet < EUR43 million. This applies to individual firms only. If part of larger group, check the User Guide: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/42921
  • Large enterprises:
    >250 employees or annual revenue > EUR 50,000,000. Non-profit organisation (non-governmental organisations that are recognised with a non-profit status)
  • Non-profit organisations:
    Non-governmental organisations that are recognised with a non-profit status
  • Academic:
    Linked to a university or equivalent
  • Public:
    Local, regional, federal government representative

What stage of diagnostics development does your research aim to cover?

  • Development:
    Product development
  • Validation:
    Lab and clinical validation
  • Evaluation & Authorisation:
    Regulatory approvals
  • Access:
    Monitoring

What stage of medicine or vaccine development does your research aim to cover?

  • Discovery and development:
    Identification of promising compounds for development and initial experiments to gather information
  • Preclinical research:
    Laboratory and animal testing to answer basic questions about safety
  • Phase 0 (clinical):
    Testing on limited number of subjects at subtherapeutic doses
  • Phase I (clinical):
    Testing on <100 healthy subjects with the disease/condition
  • Phase II (clinical):
    Testing on up to several hundred subjects with the disease/condition
  • Phase III (clinical):
    Testing on 300 to 3,000 volunteers with the disease/condition
  • Preregistration / Phase IV (clinical):
    Testing on several thousand volunteers with the disease/condition
  • Clinical (unspecified):
    Clinical phase unknown
  • Evaluation & Authorisation:
    Activities relating to marketing authorisation
  • Access:
    Monitoring

Where are you based?

  • Africa : Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Congo (Republic of the), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • America (non-US & Canada) : Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela
  • Asia-Pacific : Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, China (including special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau), Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, North Korea, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam
  • Europe (non-EU) : Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
  • European Union (EU) : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
  • Middle East : Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen
  • United States (US) & Canada : United States, Canada

What type of organisation are you?

  • Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME):
    Staff headcount 50 < and turnover ≤ EUR 10 m or balance sheet total ≤ EUR 10 m (small); Staff headcount 250 < and turnover ≤ EUR 50 m or balance sheet total ≤ EUR 43 m (medium)
  • Large enterprise:
    Staff headcount > 250
  • Non-profit organisation:
    Association, foundation, or equivalent
  • Academic:
    University, research institute, or equivalent
  • Individual:
    Private citizen
  • Public sector:
    Local, regional, federal government representative
  • Other:
    None of the above or uncertain