BIRAC-Call For Proposal

BIRAC Announces Special Call For Proposals Under SBIRI Scheme 15th February - 31st March, 2022

Introduction

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking, of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, has been set up to nurture the Biotech Innovation Ecosystem, support Start-ups and SME’s for innovation research and promote affordable product development through public-private partnership

KEY FEATURES OF THE CALL

Proposals are invited under following areas:

Healthcare- Devices and Diagnostics

a. Solutions to tackle mental health problems: The COVID-19 induced lockdown and the related stress has created an increase in mental health problems and associated disorders. Diagnostic and screening, point of care customized solutions are required for neurological disorders and diseases. Some examples include but are not limited to; devices that track emotions, EEG and Brain Stimulation for Depression, wireless devices that change the brain's response to stress, Smart devices for Chronic Nerve Pain and Insomnia, Apps and algorithms for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) etc.

b. Digital Health and Telemedicine solutions using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) based systems to accurately predict chronic diseases in their early stages, respiratory diseases, delivery of health services and drug discovery
Augmented reality-based tools and systems for healthcare professionals
Digital solutions for diagnosis of Rare diseases and Genetic disorders
Robotics in Healthcare: Surgical Assistance Robots, Sanitation and Disinfection Robots, robots enabling lab automation & Robotic exoskeletons
Smart assistive technologies
NGS based workflows for high volume screening including mutation detection
Remote health monitoring solutions

c. Innovative Technologies for diagnosis and management of respiratory illness including post-COVID pulmonary rehabilitation

Non-invasive, biomarker-based, rapid diagnostics for respiratory diseases including
Medical devices for interventional pulmonary diagnosis and procedures
Pulmonary rehabilitation devices for COPD and Post-COVID recovery
Ventilation and critical care accessories
Diagnostic Imaging modalities for respiratory medicine

d. Devices to strengthen Anganwadi workers: Innovative devices are required to strengthen the decision making at the bedside or point of care. Solutions to measure nutritional and health status of children, Immunization records, New-born Growth Monitoring devices (infantometer), solutions for training and capacity building of Anganwadi workers, dental health monitoring solutions for children etc. are the need of the Indian health care system.

e. Import Substitution - To promote the manufacturing capacity of India, proposals are invited for scale-up and facility creation of below-mentioned equipments and raw materials:

Development and scale-up of Medical Equipments such as Ophthalmic Appliances, Endoscopes/ Gastroscopes/ camera-based imaging devices, Surgical Equipments & Devices, Anesthetic Equipment, CT, MRI, X-ray, Hemodialysis machine etc
Development and scale-up for Drug Eluting Stents (DES), Auditory Implants, Artificial valves, I.V. Cannulae, Catheters, Surgical Knives, Scissors and Blades
Development and scale-up of raw material for dental, orthopedic, ophthalmologic, cardiac and neurological implant

Healthcare- Drugs including Drug Delivery and Biopharmaceuticals, Biosimilars and Regenerative Medicine, Vaccines and Clinical Trials

Drugs including drug repurposing for Neglected Diseases, Genetic diseases & Rare Diseases, Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) & nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) & neurological disorders.
Vaccines for neglected diseases and neurological diseases.
New methods/technologies of drug delivery (Example- Nano crystalline solid dispersion, drug polymer/peptide conjugate, enabling technologies to improve oral bioavailability), complex generics.
New methods/technologies for Vaccine delivery and Cold chain distribution of Vaccines
PAN corona vaccine and variant-specific product characterization assays (e.g., potency, identity) may need to be validated with appropriate testing plans and data.
Scalable Organ-on-a-chip models or platform for disease modelling and drug testing
Media Development for different Biosimilars
Stem cell-based therapies for treatment of various diseases-:

Technologies towards design and development of CAR-T cell therapy against cancer and other diseases
Technologies for manufacturing of clinical grade material for cell therapy
Methods of delivery of cell therapy products

Energy, Environment & Secondary Agriculture:

Strain engineering/process development/Cost effective production technologies for the production of

Enzymes
Speciality chemicals
API
Bulk molecules and high value products
Industrially relevant bio-based import substitutes (intermediates, polymers, surfactants, fine chemicals, dyes, pigments, flavors and fragrances)
Efficient and Sustainable Biofuels/energy/blended fuels/drop-in fuels
Enhance methane production from biodegradable biomass dumped in the landfills
Biotechnological routes for decomposition of plastics/microplastics to value added products
Site-specific remediation of xenobiotics from the environment

Biotechnological means for River surface cleaning/water body restoration/ restoration of degraded lands
Development of Plant polysaccharides as a new source for coagulant – surfactant – flocculant aid
Biotechnological intervention for Air Pollution Management (like CO2 sequestration, development of biofilters etc.)
Development of Plant based meat products/artificial meat/cultured meat
Bioactive compounds from medicinal plants having phytopharmaceutical applications
To establish value addition with infrastructural facilities like sorting, grading, packaging and processing for horticulture including organic produce, marine, dairy, poultry, etc
Technologies to enhance shelf life of packaged foods/exotic fruits
Probiotic products for lactose intolerant population
Technologies for production of traditional drinks (beverages/dry powder based form)
Waste management (animal farm waste and slaughterhouse waste) through biotechnological means.

Agriculture (including veterinary sciences and aquaculture):

Agriculture:

Application of Digitally Enabled / Disruptive technologies e.g., Sensors, IoT, 3D printing, Robotics, AI/ Machine learning, UAV/Drones, GIS, GPS, Remote sensing for smart agriculture and disease management
Accelerating the productivity/yield enhancement of oilseeds and pulses
Gene editing technologies to improve traits like yield, quality, disease resistance, etc. in crops
Marker assisted heterosis breeding for development of improved crop varieties
Rapid, specific and low-cost diagnostic kits for on-site detection of various plant diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, etc. to minimize production losses
Smart pest management using Nano sensors, Nano-pesticides, pheromone, etc
Post-Harvest interventions with special reference to storage, grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce to enhance their market value

Veterinary Sciences:

Vaccines for small ruminants and pet animals.
Platform technology for vaccine development for veterinary use
Development of diagnostics for zoonotic diseases particularly point of care tests.
Rapid and cost-effective meat Species identification and quality testing.Ethno veterinary medicine.
Food development for pet animals
Improved or novel techniques of semen sexing in farmed ruminants
Use of Biotechnological tools to enhance the digestion and bioavailability of the fibers for ruminants and other livestocks
Early detection of Heat and Pregnancy in cattle

Aquaculture:

Field usable diagnostic kits for disease and algal toxins relevant to aquaculture
Aquaculture Development through Integrated approach and Aquaponics through Biotechnology interventions

WHO CAN APPLY?

The proposals can be submitted under SBIRI scheme of BIRAC

Eligibility for SBIRI

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 by any of the above entities jointly with other private or public partner(s) (Universities or Institutes).

Eligibility criteria for industry

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.
Participating companies should have adequate in-house facility to address the project implementation aspects (which shall be evaluated during the site visit) OR Incubated with any of the recognized Incubation Facility.

Eligibility criteria for academic collaborator

Public/private university/colleges in India
National research laboratories
Not-for-profit private research labs/societies/foundation

View RFP

Proposals under SBIRI are required to be submitted online only. For submission of proposals, applicants need to register with BIRAC through “User Registration”. Additional information on user registration and proposal submission are available online at BIRAC website at www.birac.nic.in.

No Hard Copy to be submitted. Proposals submitted online only would be considered.

Last date for Submission of Proposals: 31st March 2021 5:30 p.m.

BIRAC will ensure maintenance of strict confidentiality of the proposals as per DBT norms.

For any queries, please contact:

Head – Investment: investment.birac@gov.in