The programme

L'Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is an EU public-private partnership funding health research and innovation between the EU and Europe's life sciences industries. The IHI has a total budget of €2.4 billion, funded jointly by the EU and industry associations representing Europe's life sciences industries (Cocir, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe, Vaccines Europe).

IHI's calls for proposals offer an opportunity for organisations involved in health research and healthcare to form consortia and apply to be part of cross-sector partnerships bringing together diverse stakeholders to tackle some of today's biggest health research challenges.

Programme priorities

The IHI's priorities are set out in a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) supplemented by the annual work plan and the work programme.

The last open call, IHI Call for Proposals 9, is a single-stage, applicant-driven call for proposals, with five themes, each focusing on one of the five specific objectives defined in the IHI SRIA.

Proposals must meet an unmet public need, require an ambitious and large-scale cross-sector public-private partnership, have clearly described impacts on society, the economy and science, and take into account the pre-competitive nature of IHI projects.

Call for proposals 10 will comprise three themes and will be a regular two-stage call.

Key dates and deadlines

• Deadline for submission for call 9: 29/04/2025.
• Submission deadlines for call 10 :
  • 1st stage (short proposal): 23/04/2025.
  • 2nd stage (full proposal): 14/10/2025.

Open calls

Call 9 Text

Call 10 Text

Submission procedures

Standard procedures

• FinancingA minimum of 45 % of the project costs must come from contributions from IHI industry members and, where applicable, contributing partners.
• Consortium sizeAt least one organisation established in an EU Member State + two organisations established in the EU or in a country associated with Horizon Europe.
• Award criteriaThe experts will assess the proposals on the basis of the criteria of "Excellence", "Impact" and "Quality and effectiveness of implementation".

Call 9 - Specific elements of single-stage IHI

• Composition of the consortiumPartners from industry, academia, research and SMEs are invited to join forces and submit a full proposal.
• Page limitsFor a single-stage call, the limit for full RIA proposals is 50 pages.

Call 10 - Specific elements of two-stage IHI

• Composition of the consortiumAs part of the two-stage evaluation procedure and on the basis of the results of the first-stage evaluation, the applicant consortium of the highest-ranked short proposal (first stage) for each theme will be invited to discuss with the relevant industry consortium the feasibility of jointly developing a full proposal (second stage).
• Page limits:
  • In the first stage of a two-stage call, the limit for short RIA proposals is 20 pages.
  • In the second stage of a two-stage call, the limit for full RIA proposals is 50 pages.

How can Scinnov help you?

Scinnov offers comprehensive support to candidates throughout the IHI process, based on the long experience of its team. Our services include :

• Strategy and alignment of subsidiesTo ensure that your project is in line with IHI's calls for proposals.
• Setting up a consortiumTo help your organisation join a consortium in formation. Help coordinators identify additional partners and manage consortium membership applications.
• Preparing applicationsdrafting scientific, technical, administrative and budgetary documents.
• Review and validationIn-depth reviews of submission documents.
• Communication with the authoritiesguide interactions with funding authorities.
• Project managementassistance with grant and consortium agreements, reports, amendments, deliverables, milestones, etc. Scinnov can be a partner in the consortium.

Our team is dedicated to helping you navigate the IHI programme, ensuring that your proposal is competitive and impactful.