Past Calls for Proposals

Call for Proposals N05

Call Opens: 8 April 2024
Submission Deadline: 31 May 2024, 1200 hrs (SGT)

Maximum Duration: 36 months
Maximum Quantum: S$5 million (including 30% indirect costs)

Call for Proposals N05 aims to address the following problem statement:

#	Problem Statement	Objectives	Deliverables
1.	Current development of safe and effective carriers to encapsulate nucleic acid drugs for various clinical applications is not sufficiently efficient.	Accelerate development of safe and effective carriers Diversify raw materials for nucleic acid encapsulation	An integrated system to develop carriers for encapsulating nucleic acids, that features the following: Ability to investigate a broad range of lipids, polymers, and other raw materials for formulating carriers; Ability to simultaneously evaluate a series of standard quality attributes minimally including particle size, polydispersity, translation efficiency, and cytotoxicity in vitro At least two viable applications based on the route of administration, for example: One novel formulation for intramuscular administration to achieve in vivo efficacy, safety and stability comparable to or better than a benchmark drug (e.g. COVID-19 vaccine) One viable formulation for intravitreal administration, transdermal administration, or other routes of administration, achieving acceptable in vivo efficacy, safety and stability using a reference standard Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development Optional Collaboration with suppliers (e.g. industry) to increase access to raw materials Use of automation to increase throughput, streamline workflows, and/or reduce costs Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

Problem Statement

Objectives

Deliverables

Current development of safe and effective carriers to encapsulate nucleic acid drugs for various clinical applications is not sufficiently efficient.

Accelerate development of safe and effective carriers
Diversify raw materials for nucleic acid encapsulation

An integrated system to develop carriers for encapsulating nucleic acids, that features the following:
- Ability to investigate a broad range of lipids, polymers, and other raw materials for formulating carriers;
- Ability to simultaneously evaluate a series of standard quality attributes minimally including particle size, polydispersity, translation efficiency, and cytotoxicity in vitro
- At least two viable applications based on the route of administration, for example:
  - One novel formulation for intramuscular administration to achieve in vivo efficacy, safety and stability comparable to or better than a benchmark drug (e.g. COVID-19 vaccine)
  - One viable formulation for intravitreal administration, transdermal administration, or other routes of administration, achieving acceptable in vivo efficacy, safety and stability using a reference standard
Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development

Optional

Collaboration with suppliers (e.g. industry) to increase access to raw materials
Use of automation to increase throughput, streamline workflows, and/or reduce costs
Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

Call for Proposals N02

Call Opens: 8 April 2024
Submission Deadline: 31 May 2024, 1200 hrs (SGT)

Maximum Duration: 18 months
Maximum Quantum: S$4 million (including 30% indirect costs)

Call for Proposals N02 aims to address the following problem statement:

#	Problem Statement	Objectives	Deliverables
1.	Current design processes for siRNA and/or ASO drug candidates are not sufficiently holistic to predict downstream effects.	Accelerate drug development through smart design Improve drug profile early in development Tighten iterative loop between design and testing	A disease-agnostic algorithm (or a set of algorithms) for ASO and/or siRNA that demonstrates the following: Hit rate of >20% with picomolar IC₅₀ (potency), acceptable efficacy, stability, specificity (off-target value), and cytotoxicity profile with validated in vitro assays New and broadly applicable combinations of known chemical modifications, leading to better performance than benchmark sequences (approved drugs or clinical trial candidates), measured using in vitro and in vivo assays An integrated, preferably automated system of robust, validated in vitro assays to evaluate at least 96 siRNA and/or ASO drug candidates simultaneously for characteristics including but limited to the following: Efficacy/potency Stability Specificity (off-target value) Cytotoxicity Mechanistic functions (e.g. RNase H cleavage, Ago2 loading, ribosomal loading) Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development Optional Collaboration with data partners (e.g. industry) to test and validate new algorithm(s) Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

Problem Statement

Objectives

Deliverables

Current design processes for siRNA and/or ASO drug candidates are not sufficiently holistic to predict downstream effects.

Accelerate drug development through smart design
Improve drug profile early in development
Tighten iterative loop between design and testing

A disease-agnostic algorithm (or a set of algorithms) for ASO and/or siRNA that demonstrates the following:
- Hit rate of >20% with picomolar IC₅₀ (potency), acceptable efficacy, stability, specificity (off-target value), and cytotoxicity profile with validated in vitro assays
- New and broadly applicable combinations of known chemical modifications, leading to better performance than benchmark sequences (approved drugs or clinical trial candidates), measured using in vitro and in vivo assays
An integrated, preferably automated system of robust, validated in vitro assays to evaluate at least 96 siRNA and/or ASO drug candidates simultaneously for characteristics including but limited to the following:
- Efficacy/potency
- Stability
- Specificity (off-target value)
- Cytotoxicity
- Mechanistic functions (e.g. RNase H cleavage, Ago2 loading, ribosomal loading)
Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development

Optional

Collaboration with data partners (e.g. industry) to test and validate new algorithm(s)
Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

RNA: ribonucleic acid; siRNA: small interfering RNA; ASO: antisense oligonucleotide; IC₅₀: half maximal inhibitory concentration

Call for Proposals N04

Call Opens: 8 April 2024
Submission Deadline: 17 May 2024, 1200 hrs (SGT)

Maximum Duration: 24 months
Maximum Quantum: S$3 million (including 30% indirect costs)

Call for Proposals N04 aims to address the following problem statement:

#	Problem Statement	Objectives	Deliverables
1.	Current designs for mRNA drug candidates are not sufficiently effective.	Accelerate drug development through smart design Improve drug profile early in development	A disease-agnostic algorithm (or a set of algorithms) to design linear and/or non-linear mRNA drugs, that achieves the following: >6-fold increase of in vitro protein expression compared to benchmark sequences (i.e. approved drugs or clinical trial candidates) >3-fold increase of in vivo expression, along with similar efficacy, durability, and safety compared to benchmark sequences, via intramuscular administration and separately via intravenous administration, using established delivery methods and validated assays Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development Optional Collaboration with data partners (e.g. industry) to test and validate new algorithm(s) Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

Problem Statement

Objectives

Deliverables

Current designs for mRNA drug candidates are not sufficiently effective.

Accelerate drug development through smart design
Improve drug profile early in development

A disease-agnostic algorithm (or a set of algorithms) to design linear and/or non-linear mRNA drugs, that achieves the following:
- >6-fold increase of in vitro protein expression compared to benchmark sequences (i.e. approved drugs or clinical trial candidates)
- >3-fold increase of in vivo expression, along with similar efficacy, durability, and safety compared to benchmark sequences, via intramuscular administration and separately via intravenous administration, using established delivery methods and validated assays
Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development

Optional

Collaboration with data partners (e.g. industry) to test and validate new algorithm(s)
Use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning

RNA: ribonucleic acid; mRNA: messenger RNA

Call for Proposals N03

Call Opens: 8 April 2024
Submission Deadline: 17 May 2024, 1200 hrs (SGT)

Maximum Duration: 18 months
Maximum Quantum: S$3 million (including 30% indirect costs)

Call for Proposals N03 aims to address the following problem statement:

#	Problem Statement	Objectives	Deliverables
1.	Limited access to bespoke chemistries and modifications impedes synthesis of hit compound libraries for siRNA/ASO drug development.	Support hit compound synthesis Develop novel chemical modifications for siRNA and/or ASO drugs	A robust, high-throughput workflow for oligonucleotide synthesis that achieves the following: Ability to synthesise siRNA and ASO with a mixture of standard chemical modifications Quality control demonstrating >80% purity and other standard quality attributes required for hit screening Turnaround time of <2 weeks to generate a library of at least 96 distinct candidates each for siRNA and ASO At least 1 novel chemical modification to demonstrate at least one of the following improvements, using relevant in vitro and in vivo functional assays: Increase potency Extend duration of drug effect Improve release into the cytosol Reduce toxicity Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development Optional Collaboration with knowledge partners (e.g. industry) to test new chemistries Use of automation to increase throughput, streamline workflows, and/or reduce costs

Problem Statement

Objectives

Deliverables

Limited access to bespoke chemistries and modifications impedes synthesis of hit compound libraries for siRNA/ASO drug development.

Support hit compound synthesis
Develop novel chemical modifications for siRNA and/or ASO drugs

A robust, high-throughput workflow for oligonucleotide synthesis that achieves the following:
- Ability to synthesise siRNA and ASO with a mixture of standard chemical modifications
- Quality control demonstrating >80% purity and other standard quality attributes required for hit screening
- Turnaround time of <2 weeks to generate a library of at least 96 distinct candidates each for siRNA and ASO
At least 1 novel chemical modification to demonstrate at least one of the following improvements, using relevant in vitro and in vivo functional assays:
- Increase potency
- Extend duration of drug effect
- Improve release into the cytosol
- Reduce toxicity
Use of electronic laboratory notebooks to digitise and centralise management of experimental data, to facilitate downstream drug development

Optional

Collaboration with knowledge partners (e.g. industry) to test new chemistries
Use of automation to increase throughput, streamline workflows, and/or reduce costs

RNA: ribonucleic acid; siRNA: small interfering RNA; ASO: antisense oligonucleotide

Call for Proposals N01

Call Opens: 19 December 2023
Submission Deadline: 24 January 2024, 1200 hrs (SGT)

Maximum Duration: 3 years
Maximum Quantum: S$3 million (excluding 30% indirect costs)

Call for Proposals N01 aims to address the following problem statements:

#	Problem Statement	Objectives	Deliverables
1.	Lack of local production capacities and automation capabilities to accelerate the development of mRNA assets to clinical readiness	Develop mRNA manufacturing and quality control capabilities to be routinely operated in compliance with GLP, with ability to adopt GMP-like operations on demand Develop automation strategies to improve consistency, reduce waste and increase turnaround time	Demonstrate GLP production at sufficient yield and quality for preclinical studies Develop analytical workflows and control strategies to enable adoption of QbD framework Integrate unit operations to support end-to-end manufacturing Demonstrate quantified improvements over conventional processes
2.	Lack of local production capacities and automation capabilities to accelerate the development of siRNA/ ASO assets to clinical readiness	Develop siRNA/ ASO manufacturing and quality control capabilities to be routinely operated in compliance with GLP, with ability to adopt GMP-like operations on demand Develop automation strategies to improve consistency, reduce waste and increase turnaround time	Demonstrate GLP production at sufficient yield and quality for preclinical studies Develop analytical workflows and control strategies to enable adoption of QbD framework Integrate unit operations to support end-to-end manufacturing Demonstrate quantified improvements over conventional processes

RNA: ribonucleic acid; mRNA: messenger RNA; siRNA: small interfering RNA; ASO: antisense oligonucleotide; GLP: Good Laboratory Practice; GMP: Good Manufacturing Practice; QbD: Quality by Design

Past Calls for Proposals

Call for Proposals N05

Optional

Call for Proposals N02

Optional

Call for Proposals N04

Optional

Call for Proposals N03

Optional

Call for Proposals N01

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