Your research may be the missing piece.

You do not need a complete project

Many therapeutic opportunities are distributed across people and institutions: one group holds a molecule, another the mechanism; a physician has a clinical signal; a university owns the patent; a startup built the delivery system; a foundation holds natural-history data; a researcher found the biomarker. Individually insufficient — together, a credible path to patients. The Grant identifies and connects these elements.

What may be submitted: a formulation · a patent or application · an unpublished invention · a molecule · a therapeutic combination · a biomarker · a delivery technology · a clinical observation · a case series · a disease model · a diagnostic method · a dataset · a mechanism of action · a discontinued development program · an academic discovery without a development partner.

What SHRARE will do — the ~6-month MPC Assembly Program

Evidence Assembly

connecting literature, preclinical and clinical evidence, case reports, disease biology, pharmacology, regulatory precedent, IP, and competitive programs.

Product Construction

therapeutic hypothesis, indication, patient population, product configuration, formulation, combination logic, mechanism, and Target Product Profile.

Clinical Development

pathway, endpoints, biomarker strategy, patient selection, trial design, evidence gaps, and risks.

Intellectual Property

ownership map, patentability, patent strategy, potential filings, licensing and institutional rights.

Regulatory Strategy

applicable pathway, orphan considerations, precedent, gap assessment, and briefing components.

Licensing Preparation

non-confidential summary, dossier, pharmaceutical positioning, partner profile, licensing package, and transaction strategy.

The award

CHF 50,000 — delivered as a fixed lump sum of SHRARE service credits — scientific, IP, regulatory and pharmaceutical-development support — rather than cash. Exact allocation depends on the selected opportunity’s needs; precise scope agreed with the selected researcher, institution, foundation or company.

Who may apply

Technology Transfer Offices, universities, hospitals, research institutes, principal investigators, researchers & inventors, physicians & physician-scientists, professors & academic labs, rare-disease foundations, patient organizations, early-stage biotech, research-based startups, and owners or authorized representatives of relevant IP. Primarily by nomination and invitation; open submissions are welcome. Applicants must have the right to disclose what they submit.

Selection criteria

Unmet medical need, scientific credibility, therapeutic relevance, assembly potential, protectability, development feasibility, licensability, and patient impact.

What an ideal candidate looks like

Fragments and early-stage work are genuinely welcome — this is not a hard eligibility gate. That said, the strongest submissions tend to share a profile: rare-disease research already supported by both pre-clinical and clinical data, including a human data pilot study (ideally progressing toward, or already at, a randomized trial), built around a novel formulation, novel route of administration, or novel compound. Use this as a target to aim for, not a bar you need to clear to submit.

Selection process

1. Scouting & nomination — coordinated by Daniele Ruaro, Scouting and Research Relations.
2. Non-confidential submission — applicants submit a short, non-confidential summary.
3. Scientific & translational review — submissions are assessed against the selection criteria.
4. Applicant presentations — shortlisted applicants present their research.
5. Focused due diligence — an NDA is signed before any non-public review.
6. Final selection — one project is selected. SHRARE may make no award if standards aren’t met.

Key dates

Intellectual property

Submitting does not transfer ownership. Before the program begins, a written agreement defines pre-existing & new IP, confidentiality, patent responsibilities, funding, development & licensing rights, commercial participation, milestones, royalties, equity/consideration, and researcher/institution rights. SHRARE would normally require an exclusive option or defined right to negotiate development/licensing of the assembled MPC; terms reflect each party’s contribution.

Confidentiality

Initial applications must be non-confidential: no unpublished patent-enabling detail, confidential formulations, protected datasets, patient-identifiable information, trade secrets, privileged analysis, or third-party confidential information. Confidential material only after an appropriate agreement.

Responsible research

All projects must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional approvals, informed consent, data-protection law, research-integrity, lab/clinical regulation, and biosafety/biosecurity. Unacceptable safety, legal, ethical or biosecurity risk makes a submission ineligible.

Selection does not guarantee scientific validation, patentability, regulatory approval, clinical success, licensing, investment, commercial development, or eventual availability to patients. The program gives selected research a rigorous, professionally supported opportunity to become a credible pharmaceutical asset.