On 9 July 2025, the European Commission (Commission) unveiled its Medical Countermeasures Strategy (MCM Strategy), together with an EU strategic plan for stockpiling of MCM in Annex 2 (MCM Stockpiling Plan) (see, attachment). The MCM Stockpiling Plan is the first sectoral deliverable of the EU Stockpiling Strategy which the Commission published on the same date (see, attachment).

Building on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCM Strategy aims to reinforce the EU’s preparedness for the next health emergency, irrespective of its origin, by ensuring access to and availability of MCM at all times. The MCM Strategy provides for a range of actions in pursuit of the following objectives (p. 2):

• fostering innovation in the area of MCM, as well as the development, production and availability of MCM;
• joint priority setting, close cooperation with EU Member States and collaboration with EU candidate countries and global partners; and
• scaling up public and private partnerships and enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration including civil-military cooperation.

The MCM Strategy identifies four priority health threats requiring MCM (p. 3-5 and Annex 1):

• respiratory or contact-based viruses with pandemic potential (e.g., Coronaviridae and Filoviridae);
• vector-borne or animal-reservoir viruses with epidemic potential (e.g., Flaviviridae and Togaviridae);
• antimicrobial resistance; and
• armed conflict related threats and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

The Commission, together with EU Member States, will review and update this priority list on a continuous basis.

The MCM Stockpiling Plan complements the wider EU Stockpiling Strategy, which extends to essential goods as diverse as food, water, oil, fuel and medicines, in view of the specificities of MCM stockpiling.

The Commission considers that its MCM Strategy and its EU Strategy for Life Sciences, which it published on 2 July 2025 (see, VBB Life Sciences News and Insights of 4 July 2025), will reinforce each other. It expects that the EU Life Sciences Strategy will advance research and innovation in medicinal products and health technologies which will, in turn, support the development of effective MCM.

While the MCM Strategy has mostly been welcomed, concerns have been voiced about the fact that it does not provide for funding to support the proposed actions. Instead, the Commission notes in its accompanying Q&A (available here) that “[t]he EU, Member States, and private sector are encouraged to invest in these initiatives”. The hopes are that the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework, which will be proposed by the Commission this week and will set out the budget for the period 2028-2034, will provide for funding.