EIT Health Innovation Projects Programme

The EIT Health Innovation Projects programme provides comprehensive support for innovations that show the potential to have a positive impact on healthcare supporting healthy living, active ageing and improvements in healthcare.

Innovation Projects offer three different kinds of support:

• Innovation by Ideas: New, solution-driven ideas that the creators believe will benefit society by improving healthcare.
• Innovation by Design: Needs-driven projects that are created to address a recognised market need or societal problem, to deliver tangible results for citizens.
• Wild Card Projects: Innovative, high-risk and ground-breaking ideas that address healthcare challenges and have the potential to transform an area within European healthcare.

The six EIT Health focus areas are:

BRINGING CARE HOME: From institutional delivery to health delivered at home – EIT Health will deliver optimal home-based healthcare to older citizens, and consequent financial benefits to society, by designing and demonstrating innovation in home care service and systems.

HARNESSING THE POWER OF REAL WORLD DATA (RWD): From conceptual vision to tangible value – EIT Health will launch RWD initiatives that are robust, inform valid healthcare decisions and demonstrate potential to be scaled up, thereby establishing a framework for EU leadership in access and analysis of RWD. 

CREATING THE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR HEALTHCARE TRANSFORMATION: From the current challenge to a sustainable future – EIT Health will deliver an organisational evolution in healthcare management, with value-based benefits for citizens and consequent financial benefits to society, by designing and demonstrating innovation in management models and aligned training.

TOWARDS HEALTH CONTINUUM CARE PATHWAYS: From treatment centric limitations to the health continuum breadth – EIT Health will lead the reform of care pathways, undertaking the design and evidence-based implementation of innovative care and health delivery solutions.

EMPLOYER LEADERSHIP IN IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THE WORKPLACE: From workplace to health place – EIT Health will deliver improved healthcare to employees, and consequent financial benefits to employers, by going beyond the traditional expectation of employer responsibility for health in the workplace. 

FOSTERING HEALTHY LIVES BY INTRODUCING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE: From dealing with disease and disability to healthy lives – EIT Health will supply the tools and incentives to help citizens modify their way of life to prevent early onset of ageing, disease and disability and to profit from more years in health and wellbeing. EIT Health will focus on providing opportunities, especially to children, and other vulnerable and marginalised groups in society. 

The maximum project duration is three years, with a maximum EIT funding of €1 million per year. Maximally 12 new projects will be approved for EIT Health funding.

Based on their experience, the participation of industry in Innovation Projects strengthened based on the following principles:

• The strategic goals of the industrial partners related to the project are clearly established from the beginning and fit the outcome proposed within the proposal.
• The project is supported by senior management and engages the relevant departments (e.g. market access, marketing, sales, regulatory, institutional or public relationships, etc.)
• Industry partners demonstrate how they will create value from the use of public funding and why public funding should be granted to for-profit organisations. This implies, for instance, access to new markets, sufficient co-funding engagement (which can exceed the 30% rule) during the project lifetime or showing high involvement in previous activities linked to the project.
• The project cannot be a research project. The technology should already be tested and mature enough to avoid implementation of technology de-risking phases during the project.
• Industrial partners commit to contribute significantly to the impact created through the project. This can be the launch of a product or a service, the participation in the creation of a start-up, the implementation of a new organisation etc.

Where do I find more information?

For more information on this funding programme, please visit https://www.eithealth.eu/innovation_projects

Alternatively, contact us if you'd like to know whether your project would likely qualify for this grant.