GHIT Call for Proposals: RFP Product Development Platform 2025-002

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) announces the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of new medicines, vaccines, diagnostics for infectious diseases that are prevalent in the developing world.

Proposed projects should address health needs in the developing world or fill a gap in global health technologies for infectious diseases. The proposed collaboration projects should be no more than two years in duration and may focus on R&D activities in the development stages as illustrated here including:

• Lead optimization.
• Preclinical Development (in-vivo studies, formulation development, chemistry and process validation).
• Clinical Development (Phase 1, 2, and 3 studies, manufacturing scale-up).
• Parallel or concurrent development of multiple interventions (e.g., development of new drugs alongside improved diagnostic tools for disease control, advancing multiple promising drug candidates concurrently).
• Activities to support licensure and WHO prequalification.

Eligibility:

• Each proposal must have at least one Japanese organization and one non-Japanese organization,
  • Whether the organization is Japanese or non-Japanese is defined by the location of its headquarters.
  • A multinational group of companies will be considered as a single Japanese/non-Japanese organization. 
  • The following table presents examples of organization types.
• Each organization must submit a certified copy of its registration and financial statements (audited by an independent auditor) from the most recent 3 fiscal years. In the case that the organization is less than 3 years old, the financial statements (audited by an independent auditor) from the most recent 3 fiscal years.
• For projects that cover Proof of Concept (POC) or Phase 2b activities and beyond, the collaboration should include at least one commercial partner and, if awarded, the investment amount from the GHIT Fund shall be less than 50% of the total requested budget for the project.
• For diagnostics programs reaching Product Validation stages and beyond, co-funding of over 25% is highly encouraged.
• Especially for late-stage programs (Phase 2b and beyond), applicants are encouraged to seek external input on their development and launch strategy from an independent advisory body (e.g., WHO-Coordinated Scientific Advice or equivalent), and to provide evidence of such review, where available.

Important dates: 

• Intent to Apply deadline, 9th of July, 2025 no later than 10:00 am JST.
• Full Proposal due, 7th of August, 2025 no later than 10:00 am JST.

Read more here.