NEW DELHI: After Chandrayaan-3 made India the first country to successfully land near the Moon’s south polar region, the government is now asking scientists to attempt something equally audacious in healthcare: develop something the world has never tried before.The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched its “First in the World Challenge”, inviting researchers to develop breakthrough vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostics and other health technologies that have never been thought of, tested or tried anywhere in the world.The initiative will offer up to Rs 8 crore for a single project, depending on how advanced the proposed innovation is. ICMR describes it as a high-risk, high-reward programme, acknowledging that some projects may fail but saying successful ones could bring about a major change in healthcare.The grants will be released in stages: up to Rs 1 crore for proof-of-concept, Rs 4 crore for prototypes and Rs 8 crore for final products or implementation models. Funding will be linked to deliverables, with ICMR reviewing each stage before approving the next.The opportunity is open beyond ICMR scientists. Researchers from government medical colleges, Institutes of National Importance, universities, recognised research laboratories and eligible NGOs can apply. Indian startups, micro, small and medium enterprises and industry are also eligible.The scheme targets genuinely new health technologies, not incremental improvements. ICMR will first check whether a proposal is truly “first in the world”, followed by assessment of its relevance and potential impact by a panel of experts, innovators, policymakers and scientists.
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The programme aims to take innovations from the lab to deployment, requiring researchers to detail regulatory, validation, commercialisation and technology-transfer plans, as well as demonstrate the technology’s clinical need, advantages over existing options and readiness for deployment.Applications will open on October 7 and close on November 30, with results due on December 31. Each proposal must include at least one co-principal investigator from the principal investigator’s institution. ICMR says the initiative is willing to back high-risk ideas with uncertain outcomes but potentially transformative gains, in pursuit of breakthroughs no one has achieved before.
