The aim of the call is to increase the production of emergency material, improve the treatment and diagnosis of the disease and contribute to the implementation of public health measures, facing the pandemic

The General Direction of the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation announced last Monday a new call for subsidies for R&D projects and for the improvement of production, to face the pandemic of the COVID-19. With a total of 12 million euros, it is invested in the production of emergency medical devices and in the improvement of public health measures that are being taken, in terms of the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The call is considered in Royal Decree Law 8/2020, 17th of March, of extraordinary urgent measures to face the economic and social impact of COVID-19, modified by Royal Decree Law 11/2020, 31st of March, by which urgent complementary measures are adopted in the social and economic field to face COVID-19. In this sense, the CDTI verbatim announces that the projects that will be benefit from the call are:

1. Individual R&D projects related to research on vaccines, medicines and treatments, medical devices and hospital and medical equipment, disinfectants and protective clothing and equipment, as well as relevant process innovations with a view to efficient production of the necessary products. These projects may be carried out by companies or technology centers and must have been completed by October 31, 2021.
2. Individual investment projects for the manufacture of products related to COVID-19 that should involve an improvement in the usual production systems or an increase in production capacity. These projects may be carried out by companies and will have to finish no later than October 31, 2020.

All the projects that are submitted will be periodically evaluated and the 12 million euros will be distributed until the funds are depleted, in a single payment after the resolution, to those initiatives that allows to implement the actions in the short term taking into account the current situation. It should be mentioned that it may be co-financed through the 2014-2020 Multiregional Operational Program of Spain of the FEDER Funds and that “the maximum eligible budget per project for the two types will be 625,000 euros, with a maximum grant of 500,000 euros per entity, is that is, up to 80% of the eligible budget”.

This kind of public aid calls, which benefit the members of the cluster, will be presented in the webinar that we have organized for next 22th of May (here), as well as the proposals published in the new cluster web platform on innovation projects in sustainability, industry 4.0, shared value, smart packaging and strategic change.