European Union underinvestment in endometriosis research

Abstract

BackgroundEndometriosis is considered one of the conditions that receives disproportionately low research funding relative to its burden. However, the volume of funding provided by the European Commission (EC) for this disease in the last decades is poorly known among researchers and policymakers. This study aimed to estimate the commitment to endometriosis research by the European Union (EU) over the years. MethodsResearch projects dedicated or partially related to endometriosis were identified in the COmmunity Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) database that inventories EU projects. From the database, we extracted all the items using the keyword “endometriosis” from the inception to 2023. Research projects retrieved were classified in three groups according to the level of commitment of the projects to the specific field. Main findingsOf the 145,983 items overall retrieved for all the fields in CORDIS, n = 27 were found to be related to endometriosis, of which n = 10 were endometriosis-specific projects and n = 7 were partially related to endometriosis. The endometriosis-specific projects received overall funds for about 15 million euros. Of the n = 10 projects specifically related to endometriosis, n = 4 aimed to identify candidate diagnostic biomarkers associated with the disease and n = 3 had a broader approach focused on both improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic measures for the disease. ConclusionsConsidering the economic and societal burden incurred by endometriosis, EU investments for the disease research has been so far limited. Research projects funded were mainly dedicated to the diagnosis of the disease while few projects focused on disease etiopathogenesis and treatment.