DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAY FUNDING SCHEME: NOV 2021

1. Title: DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAY FUNDING SCHEME: NOV 20212. Awarding Authority: Medical Research Council (MRC), GB Email: DPFSandDCS@mrc.ukri.org. Web: 3. Contract type: Service contract4. Description: Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme: Nov 2021What we’re looking forYou can apply for academically led translational projects that aim to improve prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of significant health needs, or to develop research tools that increase the efficiency of developing interventions.All diseases and interventions are eligible for support. You can also address global health issues.Support is available for the following stages of development:prototype discovery and designpre-clinical testing of novel interventionsearly-phase clinical studies of novel interventions (phases 1 and 2a).Your projects can start and finish at any point. You can submit follow-on proposals where you can justify the need for continued support.You can apply for funding for work in:candidate therapeutic entities, for example drug discoveryvaccines for infectious or non-infectious diseasenovel biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins)advanced therapeutics (gene therapy, T-cell therapy, etc)regenerative medicinerepurposing clinical studies, using existing therapies for new indicationsnovel devicesdiagnostics (including biomarker validation)novel medical imaging technologynew surgical techniques or toolsbehavioural and psychological interventionsdigital healthcare, app development, enabled devices, artificial intelligence enabled diagnosisradiotherapy and radiation protocolsinterventions that benefit health in low- and middle-income countries.This funding opportunity will not support:fundamental or investigative research not linked to a development plan (supported by the MRC Research Boards – MRC website)clinical studies where the main aim is to investigate disease mechanism (supported by the MRC Research Boards – MRC website)late-phase clinical trials (supported by MRC-National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) efficacy and mechanism evaluation (NIHR website) and NIHR health technology assessment (NIHR website) programmes)late-phase global health trials (supported by the Applied Global Health Research Board (MRC website)).There is no limit to the amount of funding you can apply for or the length of your project. You should instead justify the timescale and resources needed in the context of the proposed work.CollaborationsWe encourage working with charities or industry where these partnerships can add value to the project, for example in terms of access to expertise, technologies, reagents or funding. Please note that collaboration is not a prerequisite for application.Applications involving collaboration with industry should consult the MRC industry collaboration agreement (MRC website). Please note that we do not fund the work of your industrial partners.5. CPV Code(s): 73110000, 73100000, 73000000, 732200006. NUTS code(s): UKK, UKK1, UKK147. Main site or location of works, main place of delivery or main place of performance: South West (England), Gloucestershire, Wiltshire And Bristol/Bath Area, Swindon.8. Reference attributed by awarding authority: Not provided.9. Estimated value of requirement: Total fund: £30,000,00010. Closing Date: 24.11.2021 (16:00).11. Address to which they must be sent: For further information regarding the above contract notice please visit:12. Other information: Funding type: GrantYou can apply for funding from this scheme for academically led pre-clinical development and early clinical testing of novel therapeutics, devices and diagnostics, including repurposing of existing therapies.Awards are made every year and there are deadlines every four months. We generally fund 80% of the full economic costs of your research, and your research organisation must agree to find the balance.Who can applyYou should be based at an eligible research organisation, which include:higher education institutionsUKRI-approved independent research organisations or NHS bodiesgovernment-funded organisationsMRC institutesMRC units and partnership institutesinstitutes and units funded by other research councils.Our general guidance for applicants (PDF, 721KB) contains more details on institutional and individual eligibility.How to applyYou must first submit an outline proposal via the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. The funding opportunity is open for six weeks leading up to the deadline, and there are deadlines for outline proposals (MRC website) in July, November and March.When applying select:council: MRCdocument type: outline proposalscheme: Biomedical catalyst developmental pathway funding scheme (DPFS) outlinecall/type/mode: Biomedical Catalyst: DPFS (relevant deadline)You must use our outline proposal form (DOCX, 271KB) for your Je-S application. Please read our guidance for outline stage applicants (PDF, 228KB) before applying.If successful at the outline stage, you will be invited to submit a full application. We will send guidance on completing a full application.We aim to complete the process from outline submission to full decision in approximately 26 weeks.How we will assess your applicationYour application will be assessed in a two-stage process. Your outline proposal will first be considered by an independent panel of experts (MRC website).The panel will assess your proposal on:the need and whether meeting it would significantly improve treatment, reduce disease or improve quality of lifescientific or medical rationaledeliverability of the projectan appropriate strategy for intellectual property and downstream exploitation or adoption.If successful, you will be invited to submit a full proposal. This undergoes external peer review before a further and more detailed review by the panel. All applicants will receive feedback from the assessment process within eight weeks of the panel meeting.You can find out more about how you will be assessed in our assessment guidelines (PDF, 70KB).Contact detailsGeneral enquiries: dpfsanddcs@mrc.ukri.orgYou are encouraged to get in touch with the programme manager to discuss your proposal ideas:Dr Adam Babbs: babbs@mrc.ukri.orgSmall molecules and drug (other)Dr Charlotte Durkin: durkin@mrc.ukri.orgRegenerative medicineDr Tim Ellis: ellis@mrc.ukri.orgBiomarkers, diagnostics and psychological therapiesDr Agnes Leong: leong@mrc.ukri.orgMedical devices, digital health (software, apps and AI tools), radiology and imagingDr Penny Morton: morton@mrc.ukri.orgAdvanced therapeutics (vectors, gene, nucleic acid and siRNA therapies)Dr Alex Phillips: phillips@mrc.ukri.orgAntibodies, proteins and peptide therapeuticsAdditional infoThis scheme was established in 2008 and is run by MRC. It is a key part of the MRC translational research strategy and supports the translation of fundamental discovery into benefits to human health.You can read about projects that have won funding under the scheme in our collection of case studies (MRC website).Please refer the website above for documentationTKR-2021227-EX-1564932# funding opportunity