Slots: 1
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, June 20th, 2025, 5pm PT Contact RII.
LOI: N/A
External Deadline: Proposals will be assessed and progressed on a case-by-case basis. How long the programme stays open will depend on demand. Early engagement highly recommended.
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards:
Anticipated Award Amount: Applicants can request up to £5 million per proposal.
Who May Submit: Applications are open to not-for-profit institutions (including academic institutes, healthcare organisations, public sector research establishments etc) and SMEs, either in the UK or abroad.
Link to Award:https://www.lifearc.org/project/rare-disease-clinical-trials-programme/
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
About the programme
This programme is an exciting opportunity for researchers working on any rare disease to apply for funding, alongside advice and support from our internal teams, to progress their innovations through clinical trials.
We are looking to fund early-stage clinical trials for rare diseases that will deliver high-quality efficacy and safety data, with a view to driving patient impact within the next 3-5 years.
If you believe you have a suitable project, early engagement is encouraged. You can contact us via the form below to learn more and enquire about submitting an expression of interest.
Proposals should:
- adress an unmet rare disease medical need.
- be underpinned with a strong scientific rationale.
- be well developed with a clear clinical trial plan.
- have consideration of the future route to patient impact within 5 years.
- have an established manufacturing process for GMP trial supplies (or equivalent for non-therapeutic interventions).
- include prior or planned patient and public involvement and engagement.
- include objectives to develop/validate biomarkers and enable targeted treatment.
- include a clear plan on the approach to access and recruitment of the rare disease population.
Proposals can include:
- co-funding with other partners.
- trials centred in the UK or abroad.
What is not in scope?
Proposals that focus solely on non-clinical development or manufacture will not be considered.
Proposals focused on running clinical studies and not clinical trials, such as clinical studies focused only on biomarker discovery / validation or projects focused on natural history studies or equivalent types of clinical studies, will not be considered.
Proposals that are not sufficiently developed for rapid progression to clinical development (e.g. do not have sufficient non-clinical evidence, manufacturing or clinical trial plans in place) will not be progressed.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.