Call For Proposal

Program Overview 

NBM This is an Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission for Accelerating Discovery Research to Early Development for Biopharmaceuticals - “Innovate in India (i3) Empowering biotech entrepreneurs & accelerating inclusive innovation”, also referred to as National Biopharma Mission (NBM).

Funding agency

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) (Program co-funded by World Bank loan)

Implementing agency

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

This call seeks proposals for development of projects supported under NBM and BIRAC schemes falling under:

1. Biosimilars

2. Bio-betters including antibodies and recombinant proteins

3. Novel antibody-based biotherapeutics including monoclonal antibody and antibody fragments (Fab, Fv, ScFv), Nanobodies, cell and gene therapy, antibody drug conjugates

4. Expansion of existing facilities without any civil/ construction work, to increase the service portfolio.

5. Platforms developed and requiring validation with industry 6. Validation and scale-up of Raw Materials 

Expectation from Applicant

1. The applicant should be a BIRAC grantee and should have previous funded project ongoing/completed for which the follow-on funding is sought

2. The earlier project should have been successfully completed with clear achievements on deliverables

3. The proposal should be built up on the previous results and activities and have a clear development path

4. The proposal should show progress of at least 2 TRL levels beyond the current stage

5. The therapeutic candidate should have substantial improvement over marketed products. The areas of improvement could be improved specificity, efficacy, potency, half-life, immunogenicity, reduced toxicity and side effects, affordability as compared to existing therapeutics.

6. For shared facilities justification and need for expansion and support required should be elaborated. The current test services, comparative pricing compared to international agencies, pricing model for academia, start-ups, MSMEs, large Indian Companies International companies to be given in proposal. The extent of differential pricing based on BIRAC financial support to be mentioned 

The proposals can be submitted:

1. The applicant should be a BIRAC grantee and should have previous funded project ongoing/completed for which the follow-on funding is sought

2. Solely by Indian Company / LLP/ Non-profit organizations/ Society/ Trusts/ Foundation/ Associations/ Government entities/ Institutes/ R&D Organizations/ which is a legal entity OR Jointly by Indian Companies/ Non-profit organizations / LLP/ Society/ Trusts/ Foundation/ Associations/ Government entities/ Institutes/ R&D Organizations/ OR

3. By an -academia consortium of Indian Company/ Non-profit organizations/ LLP/ Society/ Trusts/ Foundation/ Association/ Government entities/ Institutes/ R&D Organizations

4. Indian Start-up companies in collaboration with Industry/Academia/research institutes/ are specially encouraged to apply. 

For RPF see:- /desc_new.php?id=1029

Process for submitting the proposals online is detailed below:

a. Go to BIRAC’s website or Go the URL: https://www.birac.nic.in/nbm/

b. Click on the RFP on NBM link under Programs and the active call would be highlighted.

c. Click on the active call against which you wish to submit the proposal.

d. Further details on ‘How to Submit a Proposal’ would be available in the User Guide available on the website.

e. If you are a registered user, log-in using the credentials, else you need to register your company/organization by clicking on New User Registration.

f. In case of new user registration, a computer-generated link will be sent to the email-id provided at the time of registration to generate a password.

g. Once you login, you will be navigated to the proposal submission page under NBM link.

Announcement Date: 17-04-2023
Last Submission Date: 17-05-2023 05:00 PM