In a significant move towards enhancing European health security coordination, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has introduced HERA Invest, a financing mechanism aimed at supporting innovative companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), engaged in clinical trials for medical countermeasures. Backed by a €100 million guarantee, HERA Invest seeks to leverage public funding to incentivize private investment and foster the development of new medical technologies to protect against priority health threats.
Under HERA Invest, the European Investment Bank (EIB) collaborates with HERA to invest up to 50% of the project costs. By providing non-dilutive venture debt, the initiative aims to attract additional private investment and reduce market failures in the development of advanced research and development for medical countermeasures. This funding will contribute to strengthening Europe’s open strategic autonomy and ensuring preparedness and response to cross-border health threats.
The objectives of HERA Invest are multi-fold. Firstly, it aims to leverage public funding to incentivize private investment, thereby creating a conducive environment for innovative companies working on medical countermeasures. By doing so, it seeks to foster the development of new technologies that can effectively counter health threats, including pathogens with pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, as well as antimicrobial resistance.
HERA Invest invites companies that are developing medical countermeasures targeting the aforementioned health threats to apply for support. Priority will be given to SMEs and midcaps with an innovative platform technology, who have already secured equity from professional investors, possess a sustainable business model and plan, and have solid corporate governance in place. The EIB typically invests between €15 and €30 million per project.
Medical countermeasures encompass a range of interventions that diagnose, prevent, protect, or treat conditions during public health emergencies. These include vaccines, antibiotics, chemical therapeutics, antidotes, medical diagnostic tests, equipment, and personal protective equipment. By investing in the development of innovative medical countermeasures, HERA Invest aims to strengthen Europe’s capacity to respond effectively to health crises.
HERA Invest is one of the flagship initiatives of HERA, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority. The organization’s mission extends beyond financing and includes better EU health security coordination before and during crises, collaboration with EU Member States, industry, and stakeholders, development, production, procurement, stockpiling, and equitable distribution of medical countermeasures, as well as reinforcing the global health emergency response architecture.
For further information on HERA Invest and its initiatives, interested parties can reach out to HERA-INVEST@ec.europa.eu.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/FS_23_3776