Call for proposals to support the development of innovative medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats (HERA) - Medicinal products

The EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-a grant opportunity targets the development of innovative medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats under the EU4Health Programme. This initiative aims to enhance European preparedness against such threats through advanced research and development into medical solutions, ensuring they are viable for market readiness and regulatory approval.

Eligible applicants likely include a diverse range of entities such as universities, research institutes, large enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and possibly public-private partnerships. The specific eligibility criteria can be found in section 6 of the call document.

The type of funding is characterized as a grant, specifically an EU4H Project Grant under the EU4H Action Grant Budget-Based model, which translates to non-repayable support for related project activities. The application process requires a single-stage submission, meaning applicants must present complete proposals for evaluation in one round.

The geographical scope for eligible participants primarily includes EU Member States and associated countries, with definitive criteria available in the call document. The program focuses on health and biotechnological sectors, emphasizing the creation of vaccines, therapeutics, and antidotes for CBRN-related health risks.

The anticipated project stages range from advanced research to market readiness, highlighting the need for impacts that bridge gaps between innovation and actual deployment in health security practices.

Funding for this particular topic is set at €18 million for the year 2025, with applications open from September 4, 2025, until December 4, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. Co-funding is typically required, with the possibility of EU contributions covering 60% to 80% of eligible costs, which indicates that successful applicants will need to secure additional funding sources to cover the remainder of the project costs.

Overall, this call represents a strategic investment to fortify Europe’s health security by fostering projects that address critical gaps in medical countermeasure development and accessibility, particularly in the context of emerging and potential health threats.

This is a call for proposals under the EU4Health Programme (EU4H) HERA Action Grants 2025 (EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ) to support the development of innovative medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats, specifically focusing on medicinal products. The type of action is EU4H Project Grants (EU4H-PJG) with the EU4H Action Grant Budget-Based [EU4H-AG] model grant agreement. The call is open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date is September 4, 2025, and the deadline is December 4, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected impact of this action is to increase the preparedness of the Union to respond to CBRN threats and improve the availability of medical countermeasures against these threats. The projects should advance one or more medical countermeasures against CBRN threats along the steps towards regulatory approval and market readiness.

Specifically, the call targets:

Countermeasures against biological threats, including vaccines, therapeutics (such as antivirals, small molecules, antimicrobials, monoclonals, and polyclonals).

Countermeasures against chemical agents, including antidotes, supportive treatments, and innovation in application devices or techniques.

Countermeasures against radio-nuclear agents, including treatments against acute radiation syndrome, bone marrow suppression, and decorporation agents after exposure to radioactive substances.

The expected outcome is an end-to-end approach to bridge the gap between advanced research, innovation, market access, and deployment by supporting:

Advanced research and development (R&D) to support the development of medical countermeasures.

Involving end users and security practitioners to bring the research products closer to market readiness.

Supporting research into market readiness or facilitating tech and entrepreneurial skills development.

The objective is to improve the Union’s readiness to respond to intentional health threats, including cross-border ones, by supporting the development of medical countermeasures to biological, chemical, and radio-nuclear agents for which there currently are no or only limited treatment options.

The scope of this action focuses on supporting advanced research on threat-agnostic medical countermeasures against CBRN agents and platform approaches to treat injuries from CBRN agents.

The submission session is available for EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-2, EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-a, EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-b, and EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-c as of September 4, 2025.

The conditions for this call are as follows:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Described in section 5 of the call document. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries: Described in section 6 of the call document.

3. Other Eligible Conditions: Described in section 6 of the call document.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: Described in section 7 of the call document.

5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.

5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document.

5c. Evaluation and award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document, application form templates (Standard application form (EU4H) available in the Submission System, Detailed budget table (EU4H)), Model Grant Agreements (MGA) (EU4Health Programme General MGA), and additional documents (EU4Health Work Programme 2025, EU4Health Regulation 2021/522, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Guidance on How to handle security-sensitive projects, Guidance note on Potential misuse of research, STEP Regulation 2024/795) are available.

The budget overview for the year 2025 is as follows:

EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-a EU4H Project Grants: 18,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-09-04, deadline 2025-12-04.

EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-b EU4H Project Grants: 1,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-09-04, deadline 2025-12-04.

EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-c EU4H Project Grants: 1,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-09-04, deadline 2025-12-04.

EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-2 EU4H Project Grants: 10,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-09-04, deadline 2025-12-04.

There are currently no partner search announcements. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile.

To access the Electronic Submission Service, applicants should click on the submission button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to their proposal. Applicants must confirm their choice, as it cannot be changed in the submission system. To access existing draft proposals, applicants can log in to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section.

For help related to this call, applicants can contact HaDEA-HP-CALLS@ec.europa.eu. Additional support is available through the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ Submission of proposals, the IT Helpdesk, and the Online Manual.

In summary, this EU4Health Programme call aims to bolster the European Union's ability to counter CBRN threats by funding advanced research and development of medical countermeasures. It seeks to bridge the gap between research and market readiness, encouraging the involvement of end-users and security practitioners. The call targets a wide range of countermeasures, including vaccines, therapeutics, antidotes, and innovative treatments for injuries caused by biological, chemical, and radio-nuclear agents. The ultimate goal is to enhance the EU's preparedness for intentional health threats and improve the availability of effective treatment options.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, based on the nature of the call, it can be inferred that eligible applicants could include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations involved in health and medical research, particularly those with expertise in developing medical countermeasures. End users and security practitioners are also mentioned as potential participants.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an EU4H Project Grant (EU4H-PJG) under the EU4Health Programme. The type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is an EU4H Action Grant Budget-Based [EU4H-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the mention of partner search announcements and the possibility for LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants to publish partner requests suggests that consortia are possible and perhaps encouraged.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, since it is an EU funding opportunity under the EU4Health Programme, it is highly likely that applicants from EU member states and possibly associated countries are eligible. Section 6 of the call document is mentioned as describing eligible countries, so that document should be consulted for definitive information.

Target Sector: The target sector is health, specifically focusing on the development of innovative medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. This includes vaccines, therapeutics (antivirals, small molecules, antimicrobials, monoclonals, polyclonals), antidotes, supportive treatments, and innovation in application devices or techniques.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text. The focus is on the European Union as a whole.

Project Stage: The project stage ranges from advanced research and development to market readiness. The call supports activities that bridge the gap between advanced research, innovation, market access, and deployment. This includes supporting advanced R&D, involving end users, and facilitating tech and entrepreneurial skills development.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic:
EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-a: €18,000,000
EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-b: €1,000,000
EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-1-c: €1,000,000
EU4H-2025-HERA-PJ-2: €10,000,000

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process. The submission session opened on 04 September 2025, and the deadline for submission is 04 December 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support their projects.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary: This EU4Health Programme call (EU4H HERA Action Grants 2025) aims to bolster the European Union's preparedness against CBRN threats by supporting the development of innovative medical countermeasures. The call is structured around several topics, each with a specific budget, and encourages projects that span the entire spectrum from advanced research and development to market readiness. The focus is on threat-agnostic medical countermeasures and platform approaches to treat injuries from CBRN agents, including biological, chemical, and radio-nuclear threats. Eligible applicants are expected to form consortia and submit their proposals electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal. The call seeks to improve the availability of vaccines, therapeutics, antidotes, and other medical solutions to protect the EU population from intentional health threats. The call is a single-stage submission process with a deadline of December 4, 2025.