ZonMw and KCE BeNeFIT Call open for proposals

The previously announced call Belgium - Netherlands Funding of International Trials (BeNeFIT) is open for proposals. The Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) and ZonMw, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Care innovation, invest up to € 6 million in the joint programme. The intention is to fund two or three trails. Deadline of submissions is May 8, 2018.

Aim of the call is to provide funding for clinical trials that compare the effectiveness of existing health care interventions that are already in use in a given indication, e.g. comparisons between two medications, medical therapy versus surgery, trials investigating optimal timing of surgery etc. The research should be pragmatic and practice-oriented. Each BeneFIT Trial should be of a non-commercial nature. The different treatment options that are compared in a BeNeFIT Trial should concern treatments that are (or have the potential of being) reimbursed by health care payers in Belgium and The Netherlands.

The purpose of BeNeFIT is that Belgian and Dutch institutions together carry out non-commercial practice-oriented research which is immediately relevant to patients, caregivers and policymakers in both countries. This pilot project offers researchers, but also the financing government organisations, a unique opportunity to support and learn from each other. KCE and ZonMw closely collaborated to set up the call and jointly developed a common selection process integrating approaches from both organisations.