Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) a Public Sector Undertaking of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, and Government of India has been entrusted the responsibility of implementing this Program. It will house the Program Management Unit (PMU) that would work as an operational and functional arm to oversee and monitor program implementation.
Request for proposals for supporting Development, validation & pre-commercialization of products/technologies under i4 (BIPP & SBIRI) and PACE (AIR & CRS) from Industry and Academia
i4 (Intensifying the Impact of Industrial Innovation) programme
The programme supports biotechnological product/technology development by strengthening R&D capabilities of start-ups/companies/LLPs. It provides impetus for pulling the translational ideas past PoC and taking them further along the innovation chain for validation, scale-up, demonstration and pre-commercialization of products and technologies. The programme is operated through two schemes :
1. Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) The scheme facilitates early-stage research undertaken by industry/start-ups/LLPs either alone, or in collaboration with academia in the field of biotechnology for developing a product or a technology
2. Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) Supports late-stage research, validation, demonstration and pre-commercialization of product/technology
PACE (Promoting Academic Research Conversion to Enterprise)
The Programme encourages/supports academia to develop technology/product (up to PoC stage) of societal/ national importance and its subsequent validation by an industrial partner. The Programme has two components as below :
1 . Academic Innovation Research (AIR): The objective of Academic Innovation Research (AIR) scheme is to promote development of Proof-of-concept (PoC) for a process/product by academia with or without the involvement of industry/LLP
2 . Contract Research Scheme (CRS): Contract Research Scheme (CRS) aims at validation of a process or prototype (developed by the academia) by the industrial partner/LLP
Under the present call of i4 (Intensifying the Impact of Industrial Innovation) and PACE
(Promoting Academic Research Conversion to Enterprise) schemes, proposals are invited in the areas of :
• Devices and Diagnostics
• Pharma/Biopharmaceuticals
• Agriculture and Secondary Agriculture
• Industrial Biotechnology
• Environmental Biotechnology
• Veterinary Sciences
• Aquaculture
While the applicants are free to submit proposals as per their choice, they are encouraged, but not restricted to apply in following areas :
• Application of big data, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, block-chain platforms, smart devices in healthcare
• Technologies incorporating biotechnological interventions for the development of specialty chemicals, enzymes, bio-therapeutics, etc.
• Engineering microbes for conversion of biomass into biofuel
• Agri-biologicals for use in agriculture using biofertilizers/plant nutrition products, biostimulants/plant growth enhancement products and biopesticides/biocontrol products
• Development of process/technologies for enhancing the productivity of oilseeds (specially oil palm), millets and pulses through biotechnological tools
• Development of 3D cell culture and 3D cell models for generation of more relevant information for drug screening
• Cost-effective and safe innovations for clinical sample collection, handling, storage and transportation
• Multiplex, modular, multi-pathogen disease detection platforms/systems for use at the primary and secondary level that reliably distinguish, and detect infections from clinical specimens (e.g., whole blood, urine, stool, and nasal swabs) for indications such as TB, vector borne and other infections.
• Development of cost-effective therapies for combating Anti-Microbial Resistance for indications such as neonatal sepsis, respiratory infections, UTI, etc.
Types of projects supported :
• Products/Technologies having well established Proof of Principle for AIR & SBIRI and Proof of Concept for BIPP & CRS
• Projects proposing a process/product innovation having significant societal impact or
commercial potential
• Developed process should be sustainable from an economic and environmental point of view and should be scalable
• The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at the end of the project should be:
- Minimum TRL 3 (Proof of concept established) for AIR
- up to TRL 6 (Early-stage validation) for SBIRI
- TRL 7 and above (Late-stage validation up to pre commercialization) for BIPP
What is not supported?
• Concepts/exploratory research ideas without proper Proof-of-Principle (AIR and SBIRI) and Proof-of-Concept (CRS and BIPP)
• Proposals without preliminary data and potential for product/technology development will NOT be supported.
Who can apply?
PACE : Academic Institute, University, NGO or Research Foundation, registered/accredited by a government body can apply either alone, or in partnership with academia or industry (while involvement of industry is optional for AIR Scheme, it is mandatory to have an industrial partner for CRS)
Under the scheme, academia (Public or Private Institute, University, NGO, Research Foundation or trust/society), National research laboratories having a well-established support system for research shall be the primary applicant. The applicant can apply either : 1. Individually, or
2. Jointly with academic and/or industrial partner
PACE - AIR :
Eligibility Criteria for applicant (organization) : For Public or Private Institute, University, NGO, or Research Foundation, proper registration/ accreditation from a government body is mandatory like UGC affiliation certification, AICTE, CSIR /DSIR/SIRO certificate etc.
Eligibility criteria for Project Investigator :
• The PI has to be a permanent Faculty of the applicant entity.
• PI must have completed at least one or more extramural funded project in India with cumulative project duration of 3 years & in the same research area of the project proposed. Projects must have been funded by Govt. funding agencies or Industry. Project/s executed as PI (and not as Co-PI) will only be considered to establish eligibility. Related Sanction order or funding note to be uploaded as a proof.
• PI must have authored at least one publication (not abstract) indexed in Scopus/web of science/research paper published in peer reviewed journal as first or lead author, or patents (filed) in the same research area of the project proposed for AIR.(Conference papers and review papers will not be considered to establish eligibility)
PACE-CRS :
1 . Academia* has to be the Primary Applicant with one or more partners of which at least one is a company**
* * For Public or Private Institute, University, NGO, or Research Foundation, proper registration/accreditation from a government body is mandatory
* Participating company should be registered under the Indian Companies Act, 2013 with at least 51% Indian shareholding i.e., shares of the Company should be held by Indian Citizens holding Indian passport (Indian citizens do not include Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) holders).
2 . The applicant Company should have adequate in-house facility to address the project implementation (which shall be evaluated during the site visit) or incubated with any of the recognized incubation facility.
SBIRI and BIPP
Eligibility
1 . The proposals can be submitted
a) Solely by a Company* incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
** incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 or Joint Ventures either in the form of Company/ LLP b) by any of the above entities jointly with other private or public partner(s) (Universities or Institutes)
* * Minimum 51% of the shares of the Company should be held by Indian Citizens holding Indian passport (Indian Citizens do not include Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) holders)
* Minimum half of the persons who subscribed their names to the LLP document as its Partners should be Indian citizens.
The Applicant Company/LLP should either:
a) Have adequate in-house facility to address the project implementation (which shall be evaluated during the site visit) or
b) Incubated with any of the recognized Incubation Facility For Academic collaborator : Eligible Academia shall mean an entity which is having proper establishment documents : For Public or Private Institute, University, NGO, or Research Foundation, proper registration/accreditation from a government body is mandatory like UGC affiliation certification, AICTE, CSIR /DSIR/SIRO certificate etc.
Ineligibility
1 . Applicant who had withdrawn their proposal after approval from Apex committee or whose project was foreclosed due to inadequate funds or any other irregularity would be debarred from submitting fresh proposals for next 2 calls (1 year).
2 . Proposals submitted by a company/subsidiary/sister concern either as main applicant or collaborator, who has been fund recipient in any of the schemes of BIRAC in past and has defaulted on (i) repayment of loan and/or interest, or is irregular with regard to repayment of instalments (ii) payment of unspent balance (if any) in the earlier BIRAC supported projects
(iii) payment of Royalty to BIRAC would not be considered for financial assistance by BIRAC.
3 . Proposal of any company having a Director of a defaulting company (as detailed above in point no. 2) would not be considered for financial assistance by BIRAC.
Duration of Project
Up to 24 months for proposal submitted under AIR. No ceiling on project duration under CRS, SBIRI and BIPP schemes.
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