LONDON: The Europe Union and drugmakers pledged on Thursday to invest 280 million euros ($350 million) in Ebola research, with the lion’s share going to the testing and manufacture of potential vaccines.

The funding will go to projects backed by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private scheme jointly paid for by the European Commission and the pharmaceuticals industry.

Reuters reported on Oct. 22 that an IMI investment of around 200 million euros was pending. Since then, further discussions have been held about the resources needed for various projects and the amount has been increased.

The final document setting out the plans commits the European Commission to giving as much as 140 million euros, with companies providing an equivalent amount in staff time, goods and services.

“The EU is determined to help find a solution to Ebola. We are putting our money where our mouth is and boosting EU research on Ebola with an additional 280 million euros,” said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for research.