What is IMI?
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a public-private partnership between the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and the pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
IMI has a total budget of €2 billion. €1 billion of funding is received from the European Commissions' Seventh Framework Programme for Research, via the Health Theme. This amount is matched by contributions from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and its member companies.
The European Union's contribution funds exclusively public organisations or non-profit organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Pharmaceutical companies fully fund their own participation and provide R&D resources such as staff, laboratories, materials and clinical research.
Funding is distributed through open calls for proposals following an independent peer reviewed two-stage process.