On 22 April, the European Commission approved a €5.3 million
Maltese direct grants scheme to support investment in research
and development (R&D) related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The
scheme was approved under the State aid
Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020,
as amended on 3 April 2020.
According to the Commission, the scheme will be accessible to
Malta-based companies of all sizes, including public entities,
carrying out coronavirus and other antiviral relevant R&D
projects. The aim of the scheme is to support the development of
innovative solutions to the current health crisis, such as relevant
medicinal products and treatments, medical devices, hospital and
medical equipment, disinfectants, data collection and processing
tools, and applications supporting a better dissemination of
recommendations by health authorities. Also, the scheme aims to
improve foresight tools and methodologies for the future, by
drawing on lessons learnt from
