International collaborations with preclinical therapy studies of rare diseases

The call for proposals supports preclinical studies aimed at developing new treatments for rare diseases using small molecules and biologics. The projects may for example include new therapies, biomarkers, replication of studies, proof of concept studies or preparations for clinical trials.

The call for proposals is a collaboration between around 36 organizations from around 30 countries. The European Commission contributes with co-financing and each participating country is responsible for the costs of its own actors in the granted consortia.

Vinnova's call text provides supplementary information for Swedish organizations seeking funds from Vinnova within the framework of ERDERA the call for proposals. Assessment is done by international experts via the international secretariat.

Complete information on the call for proposals
All important information such as the full call text, what is funded and how to apply to the international the call for proposals ERDERA JTC2025 is available on ERDERA's website.
There you will also find contact details for the international secretariat who can answer questions about the content and focus of the call.

The purpose of the call for proposals is to enable researchers in different countries to build effective collaboration around a common interdisciplinary project based on complementarity and sharing of expertise. The aim is that the results can be used for the benefit of patients in the future.

The projects will focus on a group of rare diseases or, as a second priority, on a single rare disease according to the European definition, i.e. a disease affecting no more than five in 10,000 people in the European Community, Associated States and Canada.

See full call text on ERDERA's website

Contribute to a sustainable system transition

Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system change. In order to carry out sustainable system change, we have chosen to start from the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in Agenda 2030. There, Vinnova prioritizes two perspectives: gender equality and climate change. All efforts and project we finance should contribute to these perspectives.

Agenda 2030 as a driving force for innovation

In this the call for proposals assessment of applications takes place through the secretariat, the international program office for ERDERA. Vinnova does not make its own assessment of these perspectives. Vinnova can, however, ask for information about how your project contributes to these perspectives for follow-up purposes.

It can be about the following aspects:

• if women and men participate equally in the project, share in the contribution and have influence and power over the project.
• how well the project analyzes and takes a position on whether there are gender or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem formulation, solutions and effects.

Actors seeking funding must have a branch or place of business in Sweden and can come from:

• Academy
• public sector
• business
• patient organizations

If the consortium has several Swedish actors, one of the Swedish parties must be responsible for coordinating the participation of the Swedish parties in the project.

Swedish actors must be part of an international consortium according to the eligibility requirements set in the international the call text.

Please note that participating countries and funders may have different rules for who can apply for funding.

For complete formal eligibility requirements on applicant it is important to read the international the call text. There you will find contact information for the secretariat, the international program office for ERDERA, who can answer questions about formal eligibility requirements and the focus of the call.

Vinnova finances Swedish participation in the call for proposals ERDERA JTC2025.

The projects can last up to three years.

What costs can we finance?

Vinnova's funding is covered by rules on state aid. The rules govern what kinds of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or used under license from an external actor
• Other direct costs: For example materials, stock items and travel necessary to carry out the project
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs.

For more detailed information on which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

Which eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be necessary for the activities of the project. Project costs must also be properly accounted for and reported separately from the organization's other costs. An organization may also not take up someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

Costs must be stated in euros in the international proposal to the ERDERAS secretariat. When proposal is then submitted to Vinnova, costs must be stated in Swedish kronor. Use the exchange rate, Euros to Swedish kronor, from the date the call for proposals closed for proposal in stage one, 2025-02-13 at 14:00 (CET). The exchange rate to be used must come from Sveriges Riksbank.

The rules on state aid also govern what proportion of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore distinguish between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participating participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

Vinnova can finance up to SEK 3,000,000 to a Swedish party over three years. If more than one Swedish party participates, Vinnova can finance a total of SEK 4,500,000.

See the international the call text for all details and formal eligibility requirements regarding the consortium's proposal

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participating participant can receive mainly depends on:

• which activities the party will carry out in the project
• party size and activities

In this the call for proposals we provide support for industrial research and experimental development.

Industrial research (article 25) can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis in order to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development (Article 25) can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to produce new or improved products, processes or services.

For full definition, see Support bases and support levels for funding

What percentage of the costs can we finance?

The organization's size and type of activity determine what percentage of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

Bonus grounds

If the project is covered by one of these bonus bases, we can finance a higher percentage of the costs according to the table:

• Actual cooperation: Some level of cooperation between small and large companies, between companies in two different European countries or between research organizations and companies
• Dissemination of results: Extensive dissemination through, for example, conferences or open databases.
• Other bonus basis

For full information on these bonus bases, see Support bases and support levels for funding

We grant funding in accordance with Article 25 of the European Commission's General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).

De minimis support ( support of minor importance)

How much funding can a participant receive?
In this the call for proposals we can also provide de minimis support, also called support of minor importance. We can finance up to 100 percent of a project party's costs.

An organization can receive a maximum of 300,000 euros over a three-year period in this form of support, regardless of funder and project. This means that if the same organization received support of less importance in other project from other funders before, it affects how big the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Submit a certificate of de-minimum support when you submit proposal. It is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificate of de minimis support

We grant funding in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation (2023/2831) on support of minor importance.

Not state aid

How much funding can a participant receive?

In this the call for proposals we also provide support to organizations that do not conduct economic activities. By that is meant that they do not offer a service or product in a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such organization's costs.

How do you determine whether an organization carries out economic activities?
An organization that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It does not matter how the organization is financed, whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business takes. For example, if it is a limited company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project carries out financial activities, contact call manager. However, the organization itself is responsible for assessing whether it carries out economic activities.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposalis rejected. See also the international the call text for information on formal eligibility requirements. See "We also assess financial status" under section 7.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties

• All project parties must be legal entities. We do not grant funding to individual companies.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.

Eligibility requirements for project

• The project manager must be employed by one of the project parties.
• The project may not start before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal submitted to ERDERA must be attached to proposal in Vinnova's e-services.
• Certificate of support of minor importance (de minimis) must be attached according to instructions in section 5 if such funding is sought.

What do we assess?

In this call for proposals assessment takes place according to the criteria described in the international the call text.

How do we judge?

Assessment of proposal takes place through the secretariat, the international program office for ERDERA. An external international panel of experts reviews the applications and draws up a ranking list. The assessment takes place in competition between received applications. Decisions about funding are based on the ranking list and the financiers' available budget.

Vinnova assesses financial status

Before distribution of applications for assessment of applications and before decisions on funding, Vinnova also makes an assessment of the organizational and financial status. We use information we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding, this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergo liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Agency.
• Joint stock companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.

The Secretariat, the international program office of ERDERA, communicates the decision to the coordinator of the entire transnational consortium.

Vinnova also sends a decision where we either approve or reject your Swedish proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project is granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms and conditions include this:

• That you must sign a special document in which you approve your participation and undertake to carry out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are several parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so please start this before the project starts.
• How the results will be used and how scientific publication will take place.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

We may also decide to add additional special conditions. In that case, they appear in the decision.

Can you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be liable for a refund. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with an amount that is too high.

When the call for proposals closes, proposal will be registered. Then we send an e-mail confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, the project manager and the company signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours after the call for proposals closes, please contact us.

When the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. Then you can only supplement if we ask for it.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by employees at Vinnova and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if they are requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could mean financial damage to the individual if disclosed. This may, for example, be information about business and operating conditions, inventions or research results.

This is how we handle public documents and confidentiality