The Medical Research Council (MRC) has launched the Single-Step Support for Medical Product Development opportunity through the Developmental Pathway Gap Fund (DPGF), which sits beyond the smaller Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) fund and the more substantive and longer Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

The new opportunity is designed to support the development of a new or repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic, or other medical product. Projects must target a high-risk development step backed by prior funding, generating critical data to de-risk onward progression or determine failure.

Applicants can apply for academically-led translational projects that aim to undertake a single-step package of work that will bridge the gap between inception of a new idea and substantive funding through schemes such as the MRC DPFS. All human diseases and medical interventions are eligible for support, both in the context of UK healthcare and addressing global health issues.

The Gap Fund will only support single-step projects, focusing on one goal rather than multiple steps. It will provide small-scale funding to generate critical data needed prior to seeking more substantive funding. Submitted projects should have already explored a new concept and generated some data in support of the approach. Projects should last between 6 and 18 months.

Applicants must

• Be a researcher employed by an eligible research organisation.
• Show that they will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work.
• Be looking to generate critical preliminary data to build confidence in the development strategy for a new medicine, repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic test, or other medical intervention development.

Individual projects can request between £50,000 and £300,000 at 80% FEC and 100% of permitted exceptions.