This September, a new European Partnership on Rare Diseases (ERDERA) started off under Horizon Europe. ERDERA’s aim is to deliver significant health benefits to the estimated over 30 million people in Europe affected by rare diseases through improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

The partnership is structured around four key pillars:

• Funding - ERDERA will provide financial support for collaborative international research projects,  clinical trials, and knowledge exchange and networking initiatives.
• Clinical Research Network – Encompassing all ERDERA’s in-house research activities, this network will enhance diagnostics and clinical trial readiness, help assess the impact of rare diseases and support the development of advanced therapies.
• Support Services – This includes a Data Services Hub to facilitate global data collection, integration, analysis, and sharing; an Expertise Services Hub to offer guidance on specific aspects of translational & clinical research; and an Acceleration Hub to advance the most promising research projects and technologies.
• International Alignment - Through existing and newly established National Mirror Groups, the partnership will ensure alignment between national and international rare disease research strategies.

With nearly 180 partners from 37 countries, a 7-year duration and a total estimated budget of €380 million, ERDERA is the largest co-funded partnership in the field of rare disease research & innovation.

A number of institutions based in Flanders participate in the partnership, namely Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) as funder committing 3.5 MIO EUR, UHasselt, KU Leuven, UGent, UAntwerpen and VIB. The Belgian National Mirror Group for ERDERA is coordinated by Sciensano.

More information on ERDERA and its participants is available on the ERDERA website. The European Commission announcement is available here. The ERDERA press release is available here.