2 October 2019, 4pm                     Call opens on 1 August 2019

• MRC/AstraZeneca Centre for Lead Discovery

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-az-cld1/mrc-astrazeneca-centre-for-lead-discovery/

The MRC/AstraZeneca Centre for Lead Discovery (CLD) aims to support academic researchers in discovering potential starting points for small molecule therapeutic approaches with a clear line-of-sight to therapeutic use.

Academic researchers will benefit from unprecedented access to over two million molecules in AstraZeneca’s compound library, as well as its state-of-the-art high throughput screening facilities.

Following completion of the HTS campaign, sufficient ‘hit’ data should be available to enable applicants to seek follow-on funding internally through confidence in concept or through the MRC’s Development Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

The MRC will provide funding to support up to 5-10 projects per year. In the first instance, the competition will be run once a year, for an initial five year period. As capacity is limited, projects will be prioritised for funding and for timeslots within the facility.

In order to apply for funding, an assay suitable for high-throughput screening against the target of interest must be available (either through the investigators work or commercially) or at an advanced stage of development. Assays suitable for hit- confirmation, specificity and or key selectivity must have been developed or be in the process of development.

Note that, the less well developed the assay, and the more work that is required prior to transfer to the CLD, the less competitive the proposal will be.

All projects funded under this initiative will be collaborative studies between academic researchers and AZ. The investigators will work under a pre-agreed standard collaborative research agreement, jointly signed by the Research Organisation and AZ, 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.

Further details and documentation are available at the URL above.