About the Innovative Medicines Initiative

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, the next generation of medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. It does this by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in healthcare research, including universities, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators.

IMI is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). IMI has a budget of €3.276 billion for the period 2014-2024. Half of this comes from the EU. The other half comes from large companies, mostly from the pharmaceutical sector; these do not receive any EU funding, but contribute to the projects 'in kind', for example by donating their researchers' time or providing access to research facilities or resources.

IMI was launched in 2008 and currently has over 70 ongoing projects, with more in the pipeline. Some focus on specific health issues such as neurological conditions (Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, chronic pain, and autism), diabetes, lung disease, oncology, inflammation & infection, tuberculosis, and obesity.

Others focus on broader challenges in drug development like drug and vaccine safety, knowledge management, the sustainability of chemical drug production, the use of stem cells for drug discovery, drug behaviour in the body, the creation of a European platform to discover novel medicines, and antimicrobial resistance. In addition to research projects, IMI supports education and training projects.

Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 funding opportunities July 2017

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) currently has three Calls for proposals open, giving researchers from diverse sectors the opportunity to participate in ambitious public-private partnerships that will pave the way for the development of the medicines of the future.

Why apply?

- Obtain research funding

- Take part in scientifically excellent, patient-centric research

- Join unique consortia involving top teams from industry, academia, SMEs, regulators, and others

- Benefit from the expertise, databases, and infrastructures of consortium partners

- Boost the visibility and status of your organisation in Europe and globally and gain access to new markets

IMI2 – Call 12, launched in July 2017, is a standard, two-stage Call for proposals and includes the following topics:

- Development and validation of technology enabled, quantitative and sensitive measures of functional decline in people with early stage Alzheimer's disease (RADAR-AD)

- FAIRification of IMI and EFPIA data

- Development of sensitive and validated clinical endpoints in primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS)  European Health Data Network (EHDN)

- Analysing the infectious disease burden and the use of vaccines to improve healthy years in aging populations

- Discovery and characterisation of blood-brain barrier targets and transport mechanisms for brain delivery of therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative & metabolic diseases

- European Screening Centre: unique library for attractive biology (ESCulab)

Call budget

From EFPIA companies / Associated Partners: EUR 62.362.000

From IMI2: EUR 64.077.000

More info & Call documents: bit.ly/IMI2Call11