SINGAPORE THERAPEUTICS DEVELOPMENT REVIEW (STDR) 2023 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Launch of 2023 (September) Grant Call
The STDR grant call will be opened for submission of Letters of Intent for the Pilot stage and Pre-Pilot full proposals starting from 11 September 2023 to 26 October 2023, 5pm.

The Singapore Therapeutics Development Review (STDR) is a national-level grant call for public sector research, implemented by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in partnership with our strategic partners, the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and National Health Innovation Centre (NHIC).

STDR aims to boost the quality and quantity of drug development and biotech pipelines in Singapore through 2 key features:

• Phased funding support to potential high-value drug discovery and development projects from the local public sector research community, based on the maturity and industry-readiness of projects; and
• Mentoring from leading entrepreneurs, innovators and/or venture capitalists, training through bootcamps, workshops and/or seminars, as well as industry networking opportunities to provide dedicated guidance and upskilling opportunities to grant awardees.
  

• Direct submission of Letter of Intent (LOI) to the Pilot stage, or 
• Selected Pre-Pilot projects would be invited to submit a full proposal to the Pilot stage upon recommendation by the respective Pre-Pilot evaluation committees. Others are still welcome to apply to the Pilot via the first route.

STDR will fund therapeutic projects in areas such as small molecules, large molecules, cell and gene therapies and platform technologies.

Funding principles for STDR Pre-Pilot and Pilot projects:

Maximum Funding Quantum

Pre-Pilot
Up to S$100K per project (including 30% indirect costs) over a maximum of 1 year.

Pilot
A total of S$830K may be awarded for Pilot Phase 1 and Phase 2 funding. 

Phase 1 covers the period up to the achievement of the go/no-go decision point (up to 1 year).
Funding: Up to S$330K per project (including 30% indirect costs).

• Projects will be assessed towards the end of Phase 1 to determine eligibility to receive Phase 2 funding.
• Applicants are encouraged to think about accelerating the project where reasonable. If milestones are achieved ahead of timeline, please write to STDR Secretariat to discuss repurposing of leftover fund (if any) and earlier unlocking of Phase 2 funding.
• A portion of the budget may be set aside to engage professional help to develop a commercialisation plan.
  

The detailed evaluation criteria for Pre-Pilot (Stream 1 & 2) and Pilot stages are in Annex B.

Applicants are encouraged to think about how their proposed therapeutic approach would differentiate itself from the current standard of care or alternative drug candidates in development.

Applicants are required to fulfil the following criteria at the point of application:

The Lead Principal Investigator (PI) should:

• Hold at least a 0.7 FTE primary appointment in a Singapore publicly funded research or tertiary institution;
• Have the relevant scientific/technical background and necessary experience to direct the project being supported by the grant

Post-doctoral researchers who wish to apply for STDR should submit a letter from their supervisor, as part of the application submission on iGrants, declaring that:

• The supervisor supports the post-doctoral researcher's STDR application, 
  
• The contract of the post-doctoral researcher covers the entire STDR grant period, and 
• The grant body that is funding the post-doctoral researcher is agreeable to their application for STDR grants (if relevant).

Exceptions to eligibility criteria will be considered on a case-by-case basis with the submission of a waiver request. Please write to the grant secretariat before the submission of your application, at least 7 days before the grant deadline on 26 October 2023, i.e., 19 October 2023.

Applicants are required to submit their applications via the iGrants website https://igrants-app.a-star.edu.sg/ by 26 October 2023, 5pm (Singapore time). 

The STDR Pre-Pilot and Pilot grant calls are listed as two separate grant calls on iGrants:

• Singapore Therapeutics Development Review 2023 (Sep) Pre-Pilot
• Singapore Therapeutics Development Review 2023 (Sep) Pilot

Only complete applications submitted on iGrants by the deadline will be accepted. Applicants are advised to submit their applications early in the event of technical errors with the iGrants website.

Applications must be fully endorsed by the applicant, applicants’ respective Innovation and Enterprise Offices (IEOs) and Directors of Research (DORs). Applicants are strongly encouraged to approach their respective IEO representatives and DORs early to give sufficient time to gather input and endorsement.

More details on the grant application steps using iGrants can be found in Annex C.

• STDR 2023 (Sep) Information Sheet
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Information Sheet Annex A (Differences between STDR Pre-Pilot (Stream 1&2) and Pilot Stages)
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Information Sheet Annex B (Evaluation Criteria for STDR Pre-Pilot (Stream 1&2) and Pilot Stages)
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Information Sheet Annex C (iGrants Application Instructions)
• A*STAR Terms and Conditions 2020
• A*STAR Guidelines 2020
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Pilot Letter of Intent (LOI) Application Form
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Pre-Pilot Stream 1 (Target Validation) Application Form
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Pre-Pilot Stream 2 (Platform Development) Application Form
• STDR 2023 (Sep) Grant Launch and Attributes of Strong Applications
• STDR Frequently Asked Questions

For queries related to iGrants, please reach out to A-STAR_OGA@hq.a-star.edu.sg 

For general enquiries about STDR and/or the Pilot grant call, please reach out to:
STDR Secretariat (A*STAR) STDR_Secretariat@hq.a-star.edu.sg 

For enquiries about Pre-Pilot Stream 1 and consultation on single asset applications, please reach out to:
Dr Christophe Bodenreider (EDDC) Christophe_Bodenreider@eddc.sg
Ms Chia Hsin-Ee (EDDC) Chia_Hsin_Ee@eddc.sg

For enquiries about Pre-Pilot Stream 2 and consultation on platform applications, please reach out to:
Dr Howard Califano (SMART) Howard.Califano@smart.mit.edu
Mr Brian Yen (SMART) Brian.Yen@smart.mit.edu