Transforming European healthcare through Innovation Procurement
Europe’s health systems are challenged by ageing populations, rising multimorbidity, workforce shortages and inequalities in provision. At the same time, digital technologies and personalised medicine are advancing faster than public systems can absorb them. The result is a widening gap between what is technically possible and what is routinely available to citizens. Innovation procurement is one of the EU’s most powerful instruments for closing that gap. Innovation procurement is a strategic innovation policy tool designed to help public authorities articulate unmet needs, stimulate market creativity and co-develop breakthrough solutions. Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) in particular enables public buyers to steer early-stage research and development where no suitable products exist, and fosters innovation. PCP reduces the risks traditionally associated with developing new products or services as well as adopting novel technologies, while ensuring that solutions are shaped by clinical, organisational and societal requirements. This approach directly addresses several of the most persistent barriers to healthcare innovation. PCP derisks public investment in unproven technologies by sharing R&D costs with suppliers and by validating solutions before large-scale deployment. At the same time, it supports market access for companies, particularly SMEs and start-ups. By giving smaller innovators a clear pathway to refine their products and build credibility with procurers, PCP strengthens Europe’s innovation ecosystem. The benefits extend beyond individual technologies. Innovation procurement accelerates the time-to-market of cutting-edge solutions, ensuring that promising ideas translate into tangible results. This is critical in the area of healthcare where the needs are high but the development of innovations is time-consuming and costly. It also contributes to Europe’s broader strategic objectives: enhancing competitiveness, reducing dependence on external suppliers, and building more resilient, interoperable and patient‑centred health systems. As Europe looks ahead to the next generation of health and care transformation, innovation procurement stands out as a catalyst for systemic change. The April 2024 Letta Report ‘Much more than a Market’(opens in new window) described it as “one of the most important levers to support startups, scale-ups and SMEs in developing new products and services”. The Heitor Report ‘Align, act, accelerate’(opens in new window), published the same year, recommends that Europe “unleash the power of demand by developing an innovation procurement programme”. In 2025, the Commission announced through the EU Life Sciences and EU Startup strategies plans to broaden the use of innovation procurement across the EU. Under the remainder of Horizon Europe, more than EUR 80 million will be spent to support innovation procurement addressing health issues in a wide range of applications in coming years, including access to personalised care, cancer treatments(opens in new window), experiment spaces and health adaptation to climate change(opens in new window). In addition, the EU4HEALTH 2026 programme is also using a PCP approach to fund the development of new treatments for infectious diseases(opens in new window). By aligning public needs with market potential, it ensures that innovation serves society, strengthens strategic autonomy and delivers better outcomes for citizens and patients across the Union. The projects featured in this Pack show how a wide range of health challenges can be addressed through innovation procurement. Focusing on delivering to those with long-term health conditions, Carematrix PCP, INCAREHEART and CRANE developed digital platforms that help clinicians, carers and patients coordinate care more effectively. Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) can also advance strategic system level resilience and innovation capacity. To ensure continued care in crises such as pandemics and heatwaves, DYNAMO helped equip health authorities with tools for rapid, data driven healthcare planning. Procure4Health strengthened the ecosystem around innovative procurement itself, helping health systems move from ad hoc purchasing to coordinated, demand driven innovation strategies. The remaining projects focused on cutting edge diagnostics and personalised medicine. Instand NGS4P and oncNGS streamline next generation sequencing and liquid biopsy workflows so that genomic insights can be translated into real clinical benefit, while TIQUE and ROSIA extend this personalised approach into remote monitoring and rehabilitation, using AI and smart systems to support patients at home.
