Innovative Health Initiative

What Innovative Health Initiative does

The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is a public-private partnership between the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and European life science industry associations — COCIR, EFPIA (including Vaccines Europe), EuropaBio, and MedTech Europe — that funds pre-competitive health research and innovation projects. Established in 2021 as the successor to the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), IHI operates a €2.4 billion programme budget for the 2021-2027 period, with €1.2 billion sourced from the EU's Horizon Europe framework and €1.2 billion from industry partners via in-kind contributions (researcher time, laboratories, data, compounds) and cash. The partnership does not develop or sell proprietary technology; rather, it allocates competitive grant funding to research consortia spanning pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, and big data.

IHI's funding model requires that at least 45% of each project's budget come from industry or contributing partner contributions, creating a co-investment structure that distributes risk across competitors. Funding recipients include universities, research organisations, SMEs, mid-sized companies, patient organisations, and hospitals across Europe and associated countries. The partnership has funded over 200 projects, with major recent awards including LIGAND-AI (€60M+ for AI-driven drug discovery), SEISMIC (€23.5M for neurosurgery research), SHERPA (€21.5M for minimally invasive treatments), and PreciseOnco (€14.9M for precision oncology). Royal Philips has emerged as a repeat consortium coordinator across multiple 2026 awards.

IHI's value proposition centres on cross-sector collaboration in pre-competitive research, regulatory pathway development (with over 50 regulatory procedures completed under IMI legacy), and ecosystem coordination through governance bodies including the Science and Innovation Panel, States' Representatives Group, and a 120-member Patient Pool spanning 25 countries. The initiative is headquartered in Brussels and operates with a lean programme office of 11-50 employees.

Name

Innovative Health Initiative

Legal name

Innovative Health Initiative

Website

https://ihi.europa.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is an EU public-private partnership funding pre-competitive health research across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, and big data through a €2.4 billion (2021-2027) competitive grant programme serving universities, SMEs, hospitals, and patient organisations across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Research Funding Partnership

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

International & Global Public Health Aid Administration (Government Donors) (HLAJALAO), Monitoring, Evaluation, Performance Management & Quality Improvement (HLAJAMAJ), Health Systems Strengthening & Global Health Technical Assistance (BPADAEAH)

Keywords

• Public-private partnership
• Health research funding
• Biomedical research grants
• Life sciences collaboration
• Medical innovation grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. EU Horizon Europe Contribution: IHI receives €1.2 billion from Horizon Europe, the EU's framework programme for research and innovation, for the period 2021–2027. This represents half of IHI's total €2.4 billion budget.
2. Industry Partner In-Kind Contributions: European life science industry associations (COCIR, EFPIA/Vaccines Europe, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe) contribute approximately €1 billion through in-kind contributions including researchers' time, laboratories, data, and compounds. At least 45% of each project's budget must come from industry/contributing partner contributions.
3. Contributing Partner Contributions: Additional life science industries or associations may contribute up to €200 million as contributing partners to IHI.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is an EU public-private partnership that funds collaborative health research and innovation through competitive calls for proposals. IHI awards grants to consortia comprising universities, research organisations, SMEs, patient organisations, and mid-sized companies, with each project requiring at least 45% of its budget from industry or contributing partner in-kind contributions. In addition to grant funding, IHI operates the IHI Patient Pool, the Ideas Incubator topic-proposal platform, and the Find Partners consortium-building service.

Product overview

Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is a public-private partnership (PPP) between the European Union and European life science industries that funds health research and innovation. Rather than offering commercial products, IHI provides funding programs and manages research consortia that address unmet public health needs. IHI's offerings include: funding for collaborative research projects through calls for proposals, project factsheets and results dissemination, maps and statistics on funded projects, health spotlights highlighting research impacts, and resources for projects including regulatory engagement, open science, and exploitation support. The initiative coordinates multiple research programs spanning areas such as cancer treatment, neuroscience, drug discovery, infectious diseases, and paediatric medicine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IHI Calls for Proposals (Grant Funding) Competitive grant funding awarded to collaborative research consortia addressing pre-defined call topics in health research and innovation; eligible recipients include universities, research organisations, SMEs, patient organisations, and (depending on the call) mid-sized companies.
• IHI Ideas Incubator Online platform where stakeholders can propose topic ideas for future IHI research calls, enabling bottom-up contribution to IHI's research and innovation agenda.
• IHI Find Partners Service Partner-finding service that helps organisations connect with potential consortium partners for IHI project proposals, supporting formation of competitive multi-stakeholder research consortia.
• IHI Patient Pool Structured engagement programme of 120 patients and informal caregivers from 25 countries who evaluate project proposals, participate in project meetings, and contribute to future call topic development; brings patient perspectives into health research design.
• IHI Forum (Biennial Conference) Biennial conference bringing together the IHI community to discuss funded project results, share scientific developments, and set future research directions; IHI Forum 2026 scheduled for Brussels, Belgium.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 800 assets (targets, biomarkers, drug/diagnostic candidates, tools) completed significant milestones in IMI/IHI projects
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• SHERPA Research ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026IHI-coordinated SHERPA consortium with 16 organisations across 7 European countries, budget of EUR 21.5 million, developing AI and robotics-assisted workflows for minimally invasive brain aneurysm and liver tumor treatments. Coordinated by Royal Philips.
• Royal PhilipsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026Royal Philips coordinates multiple IHI-funded consortia including SHERPA and is a key industry partner driving medical imaging, AI, and minimally invasive treatment research under IHI.
• LIGAND-AI Project ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026IHI-funded LIGAND-AI project led by the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) with €60M+ funding, 18 partners across 9 countries, testing up to 0.5 million compounds against ~2,000 human proteins for AI-driven drug discovery.
• SEISMIC Research ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2026IHI-funded SEISMIC consortium (EUR 23.5M IHI grant, EUR 38.4M total budget) coordinated by Royal Philips with academic lead Erasmus MC, conducting 8 clinical studies for next-generation minimally invasive brain treatments over 5 years.
• PreciseOnco Research ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 February 2026IHI-funded PreciseOnco consortium (EUR 14.9M public funding, EUR 23.9M total budget) coordinated by Royal Philips, advancing precision cancer treatment through advanced medical imaging, robotic guidance, and AI technologies with 5 clinical studies.
• IHI Patient PoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023IHI Patient Pool is a group of 120 patients and informal caregivers from 25 countries who contribute unique expertise and experience to IHI's work, including evaluating project proposals, participating in project meetings, and providing input on future call topics. Created in 2023, running until 2026.
• European Union (European Commission)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021The EU, represented by the European Commission, is IHI's primary public partner. The EU contributes €1.2 billion from Horizon Europe to IHI's €2.4 billion total budget (2021-2027). The European Commission sits on IHI's Governing Board and contributes to strategic direction through the States' Representatives Group.
• COCIR (European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021COCIR represents the European radiological, electromedical, and healthcare IT industry as one of IHI's founding industry partners. COCIR members contribute to IHI's governance through the Governing Board and Science and Innovation Panel.
• EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) including Vaccines EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021EFPIA is IHI's largest industry partner representing pharmaceutical companies across Europe. EFPIA member companies contribute approximately €1 billion in in-kind contributions (researcher time, laboratories, data, compounds) to IHI projects. EFPIA sits on IHI's Governing Board and Science and Innovation Panel.
• EuropaBiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021EuropaBio represents the European biotechnology industry as one of IHI's founding industry partners, contributing to governance and research direction.
• MedTech EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021MedTech Europe represents the European medical technology industry as one of IHI's founding industry partners, contributing to governance and research direction for medical technology projects.
• States' Representatives Group (SRG)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021SRG consists of representatives of EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe. The group is consulted on draft call topics and acts as a link between IHI and national/regional research programmes.
• Science and Innovation Panel (SIP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021SIP provides science-based advice to the Governing Board, with panellists including representatives of the European Commission, IHI industry partners, SRG, scientific community, and wider healthcare community.
• IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiative) Legacy ProjectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010IHI's predecessor IMI (2009-2021) generated 200+ projects, 14,000+ publications, 800+ assets, and 50+ regulatory procedures. IHI continues to monitor and report on IMI project impacts. IMI programme office monitors ongoing IMI project results.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: Major global charitable foundation funding biomedical discovery and translational research. Comparable to IHI in funder role and health R&D scope, though operates as a philanthropic foundation rather than a multi-stakeholder PPP.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Global Health division): Largest philanthropic funder of global health R&D, co-funding product development partnerships and translational research. Comparable to IHI in scale of global health funding and convening role, though operated as a foundation.
• BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority): US government authority that funds advanced development of medical countermeasures. Comparable to IHI in scale and mission (public funding for translational health R&D), but is a government agency rather than a multi-stakeholder PPP.

Direct peers

• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): Not-for-profit R&D organisation using a PPP model to develop treatments for neglected diseases. Comparable to IHI in PPP structure and pre-competitive pharma R&D funding, though narrower in disease focus.
• Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI): Global partnership that funds and coordinates vaccine development against epidemic threats, co-funded by governments, industry, and philanthropies. Comparable to IHI in structure (multi-donor PPP funding pre-competitive health R&D) and in mission overlap on infectious disease preparedness.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV): Product development partnership funding antimalarial drug R&D through public and private co-funding. Comparable to IHI as a PPP channelling industry and public resources into collaborative pre-competitive health R&D.
• Critical Path Institute (C-Path): US-based PPP that brings together regulators, industry, and academia to develop tools and methods accelerating drug development. Directly comparable in mission (regulatory science, shared pre-competitive R&D outputs) and stakeholder structure.
• Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH): US non-profit that manages public-private partnerships for the NIH, raising and deploying private funds for biomedical research. Closely comparable to IHI as a PPP funding entity that channels industry/philanthropic resources into large-scale health research consortia.
• EDCTP (European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership): EU-co-funded public-private partnership supporting clinical research in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Directly comparable to IHI as a multi-stakeholder, EU-grant-administering health R&D PPP with industry co-funding and competitive calls.

Regional players

• Eureka / Eurostars: European intergovernmental network funding collaborative R&D across countries and sectors, including health. Comparable to IHI as a European cross-border R&D funding vehicle, though broader across industries and smaller per project.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IHIEurope

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments3 records

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Frequently asked questions about Innovative Health Initiative