17 Feb 2026
EU launches BE READY partnership to boost pandemic research and preparedness
The European Commission has unveiled BE READY, a new European Partnership designed to strengthen pandemic research and preparedness. Its goal is to reinforce the EU’s ability to anticipate, prevent, and respond quickly to epidemics and pandemics. With €120 million in EU funding, BE READY will issue yearly joint transnational calls to promote cooperation across Europe and beyond, advancing knowledge and improving preparedness for new health threats.
BE READY unites 81 organisations from 27 countries and is led by the French agency ANRS–Infectious Emerging Diseases–MIE. The initiative builds on years of EU investment in pandemic preparedness and response under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, which has provided more than €1.8 billion for this purpose since 2020.
The first joint transnational call, involving 21 funding bodies, will support research aimed at better understanding the pandemic potential of emerging pathogens and at developing innovative medical countermeasures.
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