The STDR grant is jointly managed by A*STAR, EDDC, and SMART Innovation Centre (SMART IC) and can provide up to $100K in funding for a Pre-Pilot grant and up to $830K in funding for the Pilot grant. The STDR grant contains two streams:

Stream I is a single target/single lead drug development project. The endpoint will be a licensing or partnering opportunity with larger pharma.

Stream II is a platform discovery that can introduce disruptive changes and produce multiple therapeutic products. The outcome would be a venture capital funded startup with upside potential and impact.

The SMART IC is only involved in STDR Stream II – for platform therapeutic technology development. Platform technologies include mRNA applications (both molecular and process platforms), cell therapy for oncology, and gene therapy for chronic disease, to name a few. SMART IC believes there is an opportunity to identify new platforms early in their lifecycles. These nascent platforms need to show broad utility by enabling multiple products or services, being scalable to meet commercial needs, and being protectable as a business investment.

The STDR Platform Tech (Stream II) Program has two parts:

• A Pre-Pilot Program managed by the SMART IC provides $100K in grant support, mentoring, and training (Venture Exploration Workshop) to explore the platform and identify its lead medical indication. The Pre-Pilot Program will be open to all researchers from IHLs in Singapore and run yearly by the SMART IC.
• A Pilot Program run by A*STAR will provide each team up to $830K*. During this Pilot Program, SMART IC will provide mentorship and training through Venture Design Workshop and Venture Execution Workshop to help the research team drive these platform discoveries to commercial impact and venture creation.

*(Note: Successful projects at the Pre-Pilot stage would present to the SMART IC Advisory Board for endorsement to submit to the STDR Expert Review Panel (ERP) for approval to advance in a streamlined manner to Pilot Phase funding). The portions of the STDR Platform (Stream II) program run by the SMART IC are shown below in red:

The Pre-Pilot Venture/Platform Exploration Workshops would have the following design over four months:

Mentors will be assigned to each team during the Venture Exploration Workshop. They will have biotech commercialization experience and are well versed in the Adaptive Innovation™ Framework.

STDR Pre-Pilot Grant Call

The next STDR Pre-Pilot Grant Call will open on September 15, 2022. The candidates would be approved, and the Letter of Award issued in March 2023. The Venture Exploration Workshop will start in April 2023.

Please access the following:

• Pre-Pilot Stream II Platform flyer.
• Pre-Pilot Application Form