📋 Tender Overview
CBRN threats of intended, accidental or natural origin are amongst the major security challenges the EU is facing. Among them are terror plots, nuclear accidents, weapon developments and epidemics caused by emerging or re-emerging high-consequence pathogens. COUNTERACT will increase EU preparedness for immediate response to such threats by addressing three of those threats: toxins (in particular ricin and abrin), ionizing radiation exposure and infectious agents. The project will develop four families of MCM, two of them up to application to market authorisation by the EMA (anti-toxin and anti-acute radiation syndrome MCM), one up to phase 1 clinical trials (broad spectrum anti-microbial solution) and one up to proof-of-concept in pre-clinical in vivo models (anti-risk level 4 viruses). COUNTERACT will also develop aerosol administration for easy and efficient delivery of MCM in the case of lung targeting toxins and pathogens. Furthermore, COUNTERACT will foster EU autonomy in the development and production of MCM against CBRN threats by establishing an EU network of sustainable industries, research laboratories, CROs and clinical centres with the ambition to achieve an agile and efficient structuring of the European public/private ecosystem to rapidly respond to current and future CBRN threats. COUNTERACT will also provide a road map for the development of next-generation MCM for current and future threats, facilitate the process for marketing authorization, secure EU autonomous supply chains and prepare stockpiling and deployment strategies.
