BE READY invites industry to Madrid to help shape the Partnership’s second phase
The European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness has opened registration for its Public-Private Workshop, held on 16 and 17 November 2026 at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) in Madrid. Early registrants can help shape the agenda and may join the working sessions as speakers or panellists.
Europe’s capacity to respond to infectious disease threats depends on a continuum: research and innovation, clinical validation, industrial scale-up and market uptake. Each stage relies on strong links between academic research, public authorities and industry. BE READY’s Public-Private Workshop is designed to strengthen those links.
The workshop comes at a moment when Europe’s competitiveness agenda places pandemic preparedness among its strategic priorities. The Draghi and Letta reports call for less fragmentation and a faster path from scientific excellence to industrial capacity and strategic autonomy. The proposed European Biotech Act points in the same direction: enabling European innovators to develop, scale up and manufacture in Europe.
What the workshop will do
Over two days, public, academic and private-sector stakeholders will exchange information on current and planned research, identify shared priorities and knowledge gaps, and explore opportunities for future collaboration. The workshop will:
- gather private-sector expectations, needs and potential contributions
- present the legal, financial and administrative options for private participation
- showcase existing complementarities between academic research, pre-clinical research platforms, clinical research networks, public health authorities and private-sector actors, both in inter-pandemic periods and during crises
- identify where private-sector engagement can contribute to BE READY’s outcomes
- develop operational recommendations for BE READY Phase 2
The results will feed directly into preparations for the Partnership’s second phase, a process that continues until April 2027.
Draft programme
The afternoon of 16 November opens with a presentation of the BE READY Partnership, followed by Panel 1 on private-sector perspectives: barriers, needs and pathways to meaningful engagement. The morning of 17 November brings Panel 2, on concrete examples of complementarities between academia, public research infrastructures and the private sector, and Panel 3, on private-sector engagement in the Partnership’s second phase (2029 to 2032). Closing remarks and next steps follow at 13:00.
The agenda is still in preparation, and early registrants are invited to contribute to it. The full Call for Participation (PDF) sets out the workshop’s context, objectives and draft agenda.
Registration
On-site places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with adjustments to keep a representative mix of participants and a balanced public-private dialogue.
Dates: 16 November (13:30 to 18:00) and 17 November (09:00 to 13:30), 2026
Venue: Xavier Balmis Auditorium (Pavilion 7), National School of Public Health, ISCIII Chamartín Campus, Av. Monforte de Lemos 5, Madrid, Spain
Downloads: Call for Participation (PDF) | Privacy Note (PDF) | BE READY Partnership Leaflet (PDF)
About BE READY
BE READY, the European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness, connects 81 organisations across 27 countries, including public health bodies, research organisations, clinical networks, ministries and research infrastructures. Established for a ten-year period, the Partnership has a budget of €117 million for its initial three-year phase and an overall planned budget of €240 million.
For an overview of the Partnership’s structure, priorities and work programme, download the BE READY Partnership presentation (PDF).