2 October 2019, 4pm Call opens on 1 August 2019
- MRC/UCB Antibody Discovery Initiative (ADI)
The MRC/UCB Antibody Discovery Initiative aims to support academic researchers seeking to develop antibody-based therapeutics.
It is intended to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by enabling generation of novel antibodies suitable for testing in models of disease.
A clear line-of-sight to therapeutic use will be required to secure funding.
Following production of the antibodies, MRC will provide a limited amount of funding to support a (set of) proof-of-concept experiment(s) to enable the applicants to generate data that will enable them to seek follow-on funding through the MRC’s Development Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).
UCB has developed a novel platform capable of identifying rare functional antibodies within an immune repertoire, suitable for humanisation to obtain therapeutic antibodies or for the generation of surrogate anti-rodent antibodies. This platform is capable of efficiently sampling an immune repertoire through culturing B-cell pools, and characterising identified binders through carefully selected functional assays. Recombinant antibodies with the desired specificity can then be generated. UCB have automated several early stages of the process to expand the capacity, increase the speed and improve the consistency of the antibody discovery process.
The MRC will provide funding to support up to 3-5 projects per year with the competition running once per year, initially for a 5 year period. As capacity is limited, projects will be prioritised for funding and for timeslots within the facility.
Research proposals that are led by commercial entities are not eligible. Applications may not include collaborations with additional commercial parties.
All projects funded under this initiative will be collaborative studies between academic researchers and UCB. The investigators will work under a pre-agreed standard collaborative research agreement, jointly signed by the Research Organisation and UCB, based closely on the Lambert Agreement for preclinical studies.
The MRC would normally expect the host institute TTO to assist in the preparation of application and expects the TTO to play an active role in maintaining and exploiting intellectual property generated by successful applications, therefore please discuss any intended application with your Institute Business Development Manager.
You are encouraged to discuss your proposal with the MRC Programme Manager before submission:
Applications will be assessed by expert peer-review and prioritised for funding by the MRC, via a bespoke expert assessment Panel including members of MRC’s DPFS Panel, MRC’s Research Boards and external experts.
Further details and documentation are available at the URL above.