

HERA was established in September 2021 to replace ad hoc solutions to pandemic management and response with a permanent structure with adequate tools and resources to plan ahead the EU action in case of health emergencies. The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)’s mission is to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. This support is crucial to keep Europe at the forefront of innovation, and it might well save millions of lives around the planet when a new health emergency hits.” It will support companies that develop promising new ways to shield us from unpredictable health threats like pandemics or known challenges like antibiotic resistance. “HERA Invest will help us do exactly that. “COVID 19 made it painfully clear that we must address the weaknesses in our health systems,” said Thomas Östros, EIB Vice-President in charge of health and life sciences. This is a clear example of a strong European Health Union in action to better protect the health of our citizens.” Together with the European Investment Bank, HERA Invest will attract additional private and public investment and provide European companies with the certainty needed to invest in ground-breaking innovation to address priority health threats. Interested companies can find more information here, get in touch directly with EIB or through HERA.Ĭommissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said: “With HERA Invest, we are investing €100 million in advancing research and development to design new innovative medical countermeasures to step up our preparedness for future health threats. The EIB assesses whether an operation is eligible based on defined criteria and the project’s commercial and scientific viability. Under HERA Invest, the European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide venture loans, covering a maximum of 50% of total project costs.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats originating from accidental or deliberate release.Pathogens with pandemic or epidemic potential.

The HERA Invest funding instrument is geared towards small and mid-sized companies (SMEs) that develop medical countermeasures addressing one of the following health threats:
