BIRAC Grand Challenges India a funding opportunity in Biotechnology

The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Government of India enterprise, has launched a Grand Challenges India,

The title of Grand Challenge is “Accelerating Innovation in Vaginal Formulations in Support of Women’s Health.”

BIRAC Grand Challenges Inida Key details

• The focus is on developing effective local drug delivery solutions targeting Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs)
• And Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in India and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
• Funding support is up to ₹2.2 Crore (approximately USD 250,000).
• The project duration is 24 months.
• Support includes funding, technical mentoring, scale-up, and deployment pathways.
• Eligibility covers Indian companies, start-ups, non-profits, LLPs, government agencies, and academic/research institutions, preferably with industry partnerships.
• The call opened on October 28, 2025, at 2 PM IST, and the last date to apply is December 16, 2025, at 2 PM IST.
• Applications can be submitted via the BIRAC official website.

This initiative aims to promote innovation that supports women’s health through advanced vaginal formulation technologies addressing critical infections prevalent in the region.

Proposals in the correct format should be submitted through online application portal on the BIRAC’s website https://www.birac.nic.in and follow the link to the registration and submission portal. 2. To begin your application, please click on the ‘Call for Proposal’ section and then ‘Current Calls’ tab in order to view the call detailed description. 3. Click on the active call under subject-line ‘VF Initiative” to submit your proposal.

BIRAC Grand Challenges-Basis of Evaluation

The BIRAC will evaluate all proposals on a balanced scorecard approach:

Scientific excellence and innovation (40%), including

rigor, novelty, and feasibility of the approach; Impact potential (30%),

covering alignment with women’s health needs, scalability, and global access; Team and execution capacity (20%), including expertise, partnerships, and milestone planning; and Budget and ethics (10%),

Assessing cost-effectiveness, justification of resources, and attention to ethical use of technology and data. Proposals that demonstrate crossdisciplinary collaboration, women-led leadership, and LMIC relevance will be given additional weight.

Please email: GCI- BIRAC at: Dr Arshi Mehboob, Senior Manager (Programmes) at pmubmgf1.birac@nic.in or Dr Chandra Madhavi, In-Charge, Grand Challenges India (GCI) at pmubmgf5.birac@nic.in with the subject line: GCI-VF Call or at +91-1129878000

BIRAC Grand Challenges FAQs

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