Pre-commercial procurement of affordable solutions for healthcare systems in the areas of cancer technologies, cancer medical devices, or cancer medic...

Horizon Europe topic HORIZON-MISS funds pre-commercial procurement (PCP) consortia of public procurers to develop and clinically validate affordable cancer technologies, medical devices, or medicines that improve outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer. The total indicative budget is €26 million with an expected EU contribution of €8–€10 millionper project (indicative three grants), opening 10 February 2027 and deadline 21 September 2027, single-stage submission. Eligible applicants are consortia of public procurers (possibly with private procurers) from EU Member States and Associated Countries and proposals must pilot or upscale solutions in at least five countries; developers and industry are not direct beneficiaries and must respond to tenders launched by funded procurer consortia. The action is HORIZON-PCP, assessed on Excellence, Impact and Implementation (thresholds 4/5 per criterion, cumulative 12/15) and applications are submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Pre-commercial procurement for affordable cancer solutions (HORIZON-MISS-2027-02-CANCER-05)

What it funds

High-level summary

A Horizon Europe Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) call to fund consortia of public procurers to jointly procure development, clinical validation, pilot and upscaling of affordable, innovative solutions for healthcare systems in cancer technologies, cancer medical devices or cancer medicines. Activities must promote end-user engagement, open-market consultation with suppliers and measures to mainstream procurement beyond the consortium.

Funding range:Call budget €26,000,000 total; expected EU contribution per grant €8,000,000 to €10,000,000.

Who can apply

Eligible applicants are consortia of procurers (public procurers and possibly private procurers) from EU Member States and Horizon-associated countries. The action targets procurer consortia (not direct R&D funding to industry). Projects must involve end-users (clinical teams, patients, caregivers, hospitals, etc.) and include partners able to administrate possible financial support to suppliers or third parties if needed.

Key requirements

1. 1Project must be a PCP action led by a consortium of procurers with similar needs
2. 2Solutions must be clinically validated, piloted or upscaled in at least five different countries (EU Member States or Associated Countries)
3. 3Applicants must run an open-market consultation and widely promote resulting calls for tender to suppliers across Europe
4. 4Procurers should declare intent to procure at least one successful solution (either during the PCP as a fast-track purchase or via a follow-up procurement)
5. 5Strong end-user engagement and capacity-building activities to enable mainstreaming across national healthcare systems

This topic does not directly fund developers or industry to perform R&D; suppliers can respond to the tenders launched by the funded procurer consortia. Proposals will be evaluated under Horizon Europe rules (Excellence, Impact, Implementation) and must meet eligibility and admissibility conditions in the Work Programme general annexes.

Pre-commercial procurement of affordable solutions for healthcare systems in the areas of cancer technologies, cancer medical devices, or cancer medicines

Opportunity type: Call for Proposals under Horizon Europe Missions. Call: Supporting the implementation of the Cancer Mission. Topic ID: HORIZON-MISS. Type of action: HORIZON-PCP (Pre-commercial Procurement). Model Grant Agreement: HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. Planned opening: 10 February 2027. Deadline: 21 September 2027 at 17:00:00 Brussels time. Deadline model: single-stage. Portal page: see the topic details on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal HORIZON-MISS-2027-02-CANCER-05 topic page.

Purpose and Expected Outcomes

This PCP action funds consortia of public procurers (optionally in cooperation with private procurers) to jointly procure the R&D services needed to develop market-ready, affordable, innovative solutions for cancer-centred healthcare. Solutions must consider the needs of people living with and beyond cancer, embed end-user engagement through participative research models, and demonstrate improved health outcomes alongside cost-efficiency and safety. The call aims to catalyse European suppliers (including start-ups, spin-offs, spin-outs, scale-ups, and SMEs) by providing first customer references through validation and first pilot deployment, and to promote exchange and adoption of best practices across policymakers, healthcare providers, professionals, patients, and carers.

Scope and Mandatory Elements

• Focus areas: affordable solutions for healthcare systems in cancer technologies, cancer medical devices, or cancer medicines that benefit cancer patients.
• Innovation combinations: open to improvements of a specific solution or device, and to end-to-end solutions combining multiple innovations, including transfer and adaptation from other sectors into healthcare.
• Deployment breadth: clinically validate, pilot, or upscale the requested innovative solutions in at least five different countries across the EU Member States and Associated Countries by the participating procurers.
• End-user involvement: ensure effective, continuous involvement of end-users such as academia, clinical teams, cancer patients and their caregivers/families, patient representatives, local or regional medical services, hospitals, and production facilities.
• Open market consultation: conduct an open-market consultation before launching the PCP and promote the subsequent call for tenders widely across Europe to attract potential suppliers.
• Purchase intent declaration: declare interest to purchase at least one solution if the PCP delivers successful results and specify whether purchase will occur within the PCP (fast-track PCP as per General Annex H, with budget foreseen to buy at least one solution) or via a separate follow-up procurement after the PCP (include a deliverable preparing that procurement).
• Capacity building: include activities that support national healthcare systems and mobilise technical assistance and capacity building for other procurers beyond the project to mainstream PCP and remove obstacles to market introduction of the procured innovations.
• Supplier funding note: the topic does not provide direct funding to developers, industry, or research organisations for R&D. These entities participate later by responding to the PCP call for tenders to supply R&D services to the buyers group.

Funding, Budget, and Timeline

• Total indicative budget for this topic: €26,000,000.
• Expected EU contribution per project: €8,000,000 to €10,000,000.
• Indicative number of grants: 3.
• Single-stage submission and evaluation in 2027 call window.
• Overall Cancer Mission 2027 call budget context is detailed in the Missions Work Programme 2026-2027 Part 12 Work Programme 2026-2027 – Missions.

Evaluation and Legal-Financial Conditions

• Admissibility and proposal formatting: per General Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes; page limits and layout defined in Application Form Part B in the Submission System.
• Eligibility of countries: per General Annex B. EU Member States and Associated Countries are eligible; some non-associated third countries may have national provisions for participation as per the Programme Guide.
• Other eligibility conditions: per General Annex B; this topic specifically targets consortia of procurers with similar needs to jointly implement a PCP.
• Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: per General Annex C.
• Evaluation criteria and thresholds: Excellence, Impact, Implementation; thresholds set at 4/5 for each criterion with a cumulative minimum of 12/15, per topic conditions.
• Submission and evaluation process: per General Annex F and the Online Manual; single-stage evaluation.
• Grant set-up: per General Annex G; the granting authority may object, up to four years after the end of the action, to transfers of ownership or exclusive licensing of results, as set out in Annex 5 of the MGA.
• Evaluation form template for HE PCP and PPI applies with the necessary adaptations Evaluation form (HE PCP/PPI) V3.0.

Structured Answers to Categorization Questions

Eligible Applicant Types:Public procurers are the core eligible applicants, forming buyers groups to run a joint PCP. These typically include regional or national healthcare authorities, public hospitals and hospital networks, central purchasing bodies, and other public sector health procurers. Private procurers may cooperate with public procurers. Supporting entities such as procurement competence centers or technical advisory bodies can join to assist the buyers group, but the central role is for procurers. Developers, industry, and research organizations are not funded as beneficiaries under this topic; they may later bid as suppliers in the PCP tender.

Funding Type:Grant to procurer consortia to implement a Pre-Commercial Procurement action, which subsequently purchases R&D services from suppliers through competitive PCP tenders.

Consortium Requirement:Consortium is required. Specifically, a consortium of procurers with similar needs must jointly carry out the PCP. The scope requires piloting or upscaling across at least five different countries in EU Member States and Associated Countries, which implies a multi-country buyers group and deployment network.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):EU Member States and Associated Countries are eligible per Horizon Europe rules. The resulting innovative solutions must be clinically validated, piloted, or upscaled by participating procurers in at least five different countries across the EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Target Sector:Cancer-focused healthcare systems, including cancer technologies, cancer medical devices, and cancer medicines. Cross-cutting elements may include health system innovation, clinical validation, digital health or ICT components within oncology pathways, procurement innovation, and patient-centred care models.

Mentioned Countries:No individual countries are named. The call specifies EU Member States and Associated Countries and requires piloting or upscaling in at least five different countries within this group.

Project Stage:Development, validation, demonstration, and first pilot deployment. The PCP funds competitive R&D service phases culminating in clinically validated and piloted solutions, including upscaling across multiple countries. It also enables procurers to prepare for or execute first purchases for deployment.

Funding Amount:Expected EU contribution per project is €8,000,000 to €10,000,000. Total topic budget is €26,000,000 with an indicative three grants.

Application Type:Open call, single-stage submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Applicants must use the official application forms provided in the Submission System.

Nature of Support:Money. Beneficiary consortia receive EU grant funding to design, manage, and co-finance a PCP procedure, including the competitive procurement of R&D services from suppliers. There is no direct grant to technology developers; suppliers are paid via PCP contracts.

Application Stages:1 stage. Single-stage submission and evaluation.

Success Rates:Not published in the topic conditions or work programme extracts provided. No official success rate figures are available for this specific topic at this time.

Co-funding Requirement:Co-funding from procurers is required for PCP actions under Horizon Europe in line with the Horizon Europe General Annexes and PCP rules. Applicants must budget their own contributions to the PCP and, if choosing a fast-track PCP, to the purchase of at least one solution within the action. Exact funding rates and cost eligibility follow the Horizon Europe rules for PCP in the applicable Work Programme General Annexes and Model Grant Agreement.

Key Implementation Requirements for PCP Consortia

• Design and governance: establish a buyers group of procurers with similar needs, define the lead procurer, agree common functional requirements, and set a compliant cross-border PCP strategy.
• Market engagement: run an open-market consultation to refine scope and stimulate supplier interest, and widely publicize the PCP tender across Europe.
• Phasing: structure the PCP into competitive phases (typically solution design, prototyping, and original development/testing) with down-selection between phases and performance-based payments.
• End-user co-creation: continuously involve clinical teams, patients and caregivers, hospitals, and other end-users in requirements setting, testing protocols, usability, and outcome measures.
• Multi-country piloting: plan clinical validation, piloting, or upscaling activities across at least five countries among EU Member States and Associated Countries, with sites and standard operating procedures harmonized where appropriate.
• Regulatory and safety: embed regulatory pathways, standards compliance, clinical safety and performance verification appropriate to cancer technologies, devices, or medicines.
• Ethics and data: ensure GDPR-compliant data governance, ethical approvals for clinical evaluations, and secure handling of health data.
• Purchase pathway: include a clear purchase strategy, either via fast-track PCP (budgeting the purchase within the action) or via a prepared follow-up procurement, with explicit declaration of purchase intent.
• Capacity building: provide technical assistance to additional procurers beyond the consortium to mainstream PCP practices and facilitate broader adoption.
• Dissemination and exploitation: plan for broad uptake, including first customer references, replication guidance, best practice exchange, and measurable impact on patient outcomes and health system efficiency.

Templates, Forms, and Guidance

• Application forms: use the official application form available in the Submission System. Examples of standard application forms are available under Reference Documents in the Portal.
• Evaluation form: Standard evaluation form for HE PCP PPI applies, covering Excellence, Impact, and Quality and efficiency of the Implementation with topic-specific thresholds Evaluation form (HE PCP/PPI) V3.0.
• Model Grant Agreement: Horizon Europe MGA and the Annotated Model Grant Agreement provide rules and cost eligibility guidance.
• General Annexes: Admissibility, eligibility, evaluation, procedures, legal-financial rules are in the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes.
• Online Manual: procedural guidance from proposal submission through grant management Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual.
• Call-specific instruction: Information on financial support to third parties is listed among additional documents; PCP primarily procures R&D services via tenders rather than using financial support to third parties, unless explicitly allowed in the topic conditions Information on financial support to third parties (HE).
• Programme Guide and Work Programme: Horizon Europe Programme Guide and Missions Work Programme 2026-2027 Part 12 detail the call context, budgets, and policy links Work Programme 2026-2027 – Missions.

Indicative Application Structure (to help applicants plan content)

1. 1Excellence: Unmet needs in cancer care pathways; state of the art and gap analysis; PCP rationale and innovation objectives; end-user engagement plan; methodology including PCP phasing, evaluation criteria for supplier selection and down-selection; clinical validation and pilot design across at least five countries; ethics and data governance.
2. 2Impact: Pathways to expected outcomes for patients, providers, and healthcare systems; affordability and health economics framing; exploitation by procurers and first deployment references; supplier market development and EU competitiveness; measures for dissemination, communication, and capacity building to other procurers; purchase intent and route to wider roll-out; standardisation and regulatory contributions.
3. 3Implementation: Consortium composition focused on procurers and their roles; governance with lead procurer and joint procurement model; work plan with WPs for market consultation, tendering, phase management, clinical validation/pilots, capacity building, and purchase preparation; risk management spanning clinical, regulatory, procurement, and supplier performance risks; resources, budget, and co-funding; timeline and milestones.
4. 4Ethics and Security: Ethical approvals for clinical activities; data protection compliance; civil-use only declarations.

How to Apply and Get Support

• Submit via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the single-stage application process for this topic.
• Consult the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, and the Mission Work Programme for rules and context.
• Engage National Contact Points for guidance; partner search functionality on the Portal supports building cross-country buyers groups.
• Use the HE PCP/PPI evaluation form as a checklist to align proposal content with criteria and thresholds.

Long Summary

This Horizon Europe Mission Cancer topic funds consortia of health-sector procurers to co-create, procure, and validate affordable oncology solutions through a pre-commercial procurement. The action is designed to bridge unmet needs in cancer technologies, medical devices, and medicines by competitively purchasing R&D services from European suppliers, while placing patients and end-users at the centre via participatory research and clinical engagement. Proposals must show how solutions will be clinically validated, piloted, or upscaled across at least five countries in EU Member States and Associated Countries, and how they will deliver improved health outcomes, safety, and cost-efficiency. Consortia must conduct an open-market consultation, run a transparent cross-border PCP with phased competitive development, and declare purchase intent for successful solutions, either within the PCP (fast-track option) or through a prepared follow-up procurement. The call provides grants of around €8–€10 millionper project to design and manage the PCP, to co-finance supplier R&D contracts, to run multi-country clinical pilots, and to build capacity among additional procurers for subsequent uptake. While developers and research organizations do not receive direct grants under this topic, they will be able to compete in the PCP tender and, if selected, receive R&D service contracts, gaining first customer references critical for market entry. Proposals are evaluated on Excellence, Impact, and Implementation, with stringent thresholds, and must follow Horizon Europe rules on eligibility, legal-financial set-up, and procurement. Ultimately, this opportunity empowers European healthcare procurers to jointly shape the oncology innovation pipeline, accelerating deployment of affordable, high-impact cancer solutions at scale across Europe.

Pre-commercial Procurement of Affordable Cancer Solutions (HORIZON-MISS-2027-02-CANCER-05)

This Horizon Europe call funds consortia of public procurers to jointly develop affordable, innovative solutions in cancer technologies, medical devices, or medicines through pre-commercial procurement (PCP). It supports the EU Cancer Mission by stimulating market-ready innovations that improve health outcomes for cancer patients living with and beyond cancer.

Key Dates and Budget

Opening Date:10 February 2027.

Deadline:21 September 2027, 17:00 Brussels time (single-stage submission).

Total Indicative Budget:€26 million.

Expected EU Contribution per Project:€8-€10 million (indicative number of grants: 3).

Funding covers PCP activities, including procurement management and R&D phases. No direct funding to developers; they respond to tenders launched by funded procurer consortia.

Eligibility and Who Can Apply

Open to consortia of public procurers (possibly with private procurers) from EU Member States and Associated Countries with similar needs. Proposals must involve procurers from at least five different countries for clinical validation, piloting, or upscaling of solutions. Eligible countries as per General Annex B. Private entities (start-ups, SMEs, industry) engage as suppliers via open tenders, not as direct applicants.

• Public healthcare procurers (hospitals, regional health authorities) leading consortia.
• End-user involvement required: academia, clinical teams, cancer patients, caregivers, hospitals.
• No direct R&D funding for industry/research organisations; they bid on procurer tenders.

Focus Areas and Expected Outcomes

Targets affordable, cost-efficient, safe innovations benefiting cancer patients, including adaptations from other sectors. Solutions must be clinically validated/piloted/upscaled in at least five EU/Associated Countries. Supports end-user engagement via participative research models.

• Cancer technologies, medical devices, or medicines.
• Market-ready solutions with improved health outcomes.
• Facilitation of commercialisation via first customer references and pilot deployments.
• Exchange of good practices among policymakers, providers, patients, and carers.

Key Requirements and Activities

Proposals must address all scope elements, including open-market consultation, wide promotion of tenders, and commitment to purchase at least one successful solution (either during PCP as fast-track or via follow-up procurement). Continuous demand-supply dialogue and end-user involvement are mandatory.

1. 1Organise open-market consultation pre-procurement and promote tenders across Europe.
2. 2Declare purchase interest: (1) fast-track PCP with budget for purchase, or (2) deliverable for follow-up procurement.
3. 3Involve end-users (patients, caregivers, clinicians) in participative research.
4. 4Support national systems and capacity building for other procurers.
5. 5Demonstrate solutions in at least five countries.

Evaluation Criteria and Process

Uses standard HE PCP evaluation form. Details in General Annexes D, F. Submission via EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Type of Action and Funding Details

HORIZON-PCP (Pre-Commercial Procurement) under HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based (HORIZON-AG). 100% funding rate for eligible costs. Project duration typically aligns with PCP phases (solution design, development, validation).

Apply via EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Consult Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 (Missions, Part 12), General Annexes, and PCP guidance.

Additional Considerations

• Aligns with Europe's Beating Cancer Plan and July 2023 EU Missions assessment.
• Supports Cancer Mission goals: prevention, cure, quality of life for 3+ million by 2030.
• Encourages synergies with other EU programmes (e.g., EU4Health).
• SSH integration for patient-centred approaches.

Procurers should prepare for PCP phases: solution design, prototype development, original development. Fast-track option allows purchase during project if successful. Detailed templates and manuals available on portal¹.

Footnotes

1. 1See HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 (Parts 12 Missions, 15 General Annexes); EU Grants AGA; Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual.