Department of Pharmaceuticals Introduces Discovery Track Under PRIP Scheme Offering Up to Rs 50 Crore Support

Key facts

• The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers announced a New Discovery Track under the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma & MedTech (PRIP) Scheme for startups and MSMEs in high-risk drug discovery.
• The track offers financial support of up to Rs 50 crore per company, project, or portfolio, subject to a minimum 25% co-funding of project cost from bona fide institutional investors.
• Eligible applicants are startups and MSMEs working on New Chemical Entities (NCEs) or New Biological Entities (NBEs) at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1-3, with projects supported up to TRL 6.
• The PRIP Scheme has a total outlay of Rs 5,000 crore to strengthen India's pharmaceutical and MedTech R&D ecosystem.
• Priority areas for the second call include new medicines (NCEs, NBEs, phytopharmaceutical drugs), complex generics and biosimilars, and novel medical devices.
• Other PRIP funding tracks include the Early Stage Track (TRL 1-3, up to Rs 5 crore per project, no co-funding required for projects up to Rs 1 crore) and the Later Stage Track (TRL 4-6, up to Rs 100 crore per project, with a maximum 35% of project cost covered).
• Early-stage applicants follow a concept note followed by a detailed application for shortlisted candidates, with guidance documents, FAQs, and toolkits available on the PRIP Portal.