Notice

Competition guidance: viral vector production for cell and gene therapies

Published 23 October 2017

This notice was withdrawn on 17 January 2018

This competition is no longer open for applications. Search current funding opportunities.

1. Dates and deadlines

Competition opens	23 October 2017
Competition briefing event	24 October 2017
Final date for registration	Midday 8 November 2017
Submission of the full application including finance forms, appendices and Je-S forms	Midday 15 November 2017
Decision to applicants	by end of 15 December 2017

Please read the full competition scope before you make your application.

2. Funding

Innovate UK is to invest up to £16 million to support the growth of the UK’s commercial capacity to manufacture viral vectors. These will be for use in the development of clinical cell and gene therapies for the treatment of human disease and disorders.

Your total project costs may be between £2 million and £6 million.

The grant must be claimed before April 2018.

A successful application must show that the project will be compliant with all relevant general state aid regulations.

3. Requirements and eligibility

Application:

• you may be eligible to receive different rates of funding. This depends on what type of organisation you belong to
• make sure you use the correct application form or your submission will not be considered eligible
• if your submission has incomplete or missing finance forms, it will not be considered eligible
• you must provide all submission documents in the file formats specified later in this guidance. If you provide any document in the incorrect format, your application will not be sent for assessment
• if you have been awarded previous grants as the lead or sole company and we feel you have not made a substantial effort to exploit these previous grants, we will not make any new awards. This information is detailed in your previous exploitation plan submitted to us. The decision will:
  • be decided by the Innovate UK sector team concerned using evidence from Monitoring Officer reports and other sources, which will be documented
  • be made by at least 3 sector team members collectively
  • be communicated in writing to you by the Innovation Lead dealing with the new grant application
  • not be contestable and Innovate UK will not enter into subsequent correspondence

Project:

• all projects must be led by a UK-based business
• companies can work alone or in collaboration with other organisations (other businesses, research and technology organisations, Catapults, charities or academia)
• only UK-based companies and research organisations are eligible to receive funding from Innovate UK

Project lead:

• any one business can be involved in up to 3 applications to this competition but can only be the lead partner in one application
• any one research and technology organisation can be a partner in any number of applications

4. Competition process

For this competition, the process will follow these steps:

• submitted applications will be reviewed to make sure that they are both eligible and in scope for the competition
• only applications that meet the eligibility and scope requirements of the competition will be sent for assessment
• applications in scope will be assessed by up to 5 external assessors who are experts in the innovation area identified in your application
• assessors will score applications consistently and in line with scoring matrices. They will provide written feedback for each marked question
• applications will be ranked in descending order.
• the lead applicant will be notified of the funding decision
• all eligible and in scope applications for the competition will receive assessor feedback

5. How to apply

Register: You will receive an email acknowledging your registration, followed by a second email up to 48 hours later. The second email will contain a username and password for our secure upload facility, along with a unique application number and form.

Application: Once you have received your unique username and password, you can sign in to the secure website. You are then able to access the finance form for this competition from the public download area.

Finance form: Only finance forms named Project Finance Form.xls will be accepted into this competition. Previous versions of the project finance form will be ineligible.

Submit your documents: You or your lead partner must submit to your FTP site:

• your application form with your unique application number for this competition (mandatory)
• project finance forms for every partner (including the lead organisation) in your project (mandatory)
• project appendices as pdf documents, labelled correctly as per the appendices guidance in section 10
• a Je-S form for any academic partners, showing a ‘with council’ status

Scope check: Only applications that meet the eligibility criteria and scope of the competition will be sent for assessment. You will be notified if your application is out of scope with a full explanation as to why. Innovate UK reserves the right to declare applications as out of scope.

Assessment: Once the scope and eligibility checks have been completed, all applications that are both eligible and in scope are sent for assessment.

Feedback: We will give feedback to all applications that have been assessed. The lead applicant can access and download the feedback by signing in to the secure FTP site where you uploaded your application documents. It is the responsibility of the lead to communicate the feedback with the rest of the consortium, if applicable.

Notification: We will notify the lead organisation of the outcome of the application by the date stated in the timeline, using the email address provided in the application form.

6. The application form

This section explains the structure of the application form and offers guidance on what to answer in each question.

The structure is as follows:

• application details
• summary of proposed project
• public description of the project
• gateway question: scope
• question 1: need or challenge
• question 2: what will you do with the grant?
• question 3: how will the investment help to address the challenge or challenges you have outlined in question 1?
• question 4: the team and management
• question 5: leveraging investment and partnerships
• question 6: the UK landscape
• question 7: market awareness and competition
• question 8: risks
• question 9: additionality
• question 10: costs and value for money
• other funding from public sector bodies
• finance summary table

Please make sure that you upload the final version of your application by the deadline. It is the lead organisation’s responsibility to ensure that you do not upload a blank or incomplete application form. You should also follow these steps:

• you can only use the application form provided. It contains specific information including a unique reference number for your project
• the application form contains specific fields. It is important that you complete each field and submit a fully completed form. Incomplete forms will be considered ineligible and won’t be sent for assessment
• the application form must not be altered, converted or saved as a different version of Microsoft Word
• the space provided in each field of the form is fixed. You must restrict your responses in each of the fields to the space provided. The typeface, font size and colour are predetermined and cannot be changed. Illustrations, graphics and hyperlinks cannot be included in the application form
• the light grey shaded fields are completed automatically from other information entered on the form, such as the total columns of a table. These cannot be overwritten
• you should be able to see your total answer to the question when looking at the application form in print view. Any text that cannot be seen in this view or when the form is printed will not be assessed
• your answer to each question should be no longer than one side of A4 using the font Calibri 11

As part of our objective to stimulate and support UK innovation, we have established a close network of affinity partners. This list is made up of organisations that can help Innovate UK fund and support innovative businesses. Our joint aim is to speed up sustainable economic growth for the UK.

In some cases, we may share the public description of your project with other potential funding bodies, for example Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), agencies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These bodies may wish to contact you about providing funding or other support for your proposal.

Field	Guidance
Competition name	This field will show the full name of the Innovate UK competition to which the form applies. You do not need to enter anything here.
Document ID	This field is completed automatically.
Applicant number	This field is completed automatically and is the reference that you should use on all correspondence (this is the 6 digit number after the dash).
Application details
Project title	Enter the full title of the project.
Project timescales	Enter the estimated start date and its planned duration. These are indicative at this stage and are not guaranteed.
(Lead) organisation name	Enter the full registered name of the (lead) organisation for the project. If you are not in a consortium application, these will be your organisation details. Please note that the lead organisation will be the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project team.
(Lead) organisation contact details	Enter the full name, postcode, email address and telephone number of the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project.

6.1 Summary of proposed project (not scored)

Guidance

Please provide a short summary of the content and objectives of the project including what is innovative about it.

This summary is not scored, but provides an introduction to your proposal for the benefit of Innovate UK staff and assessors only. It will not be used for any public dissemination. It should cover, in brief:

• the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity to be targeted
• the approach to be taken and how this will improve on current state-of-the-art
• the difference the project will make to UK competitiveness and productivity

6.2 Public description of the project (not scored)

Guidance

To comply with government practice on openness and transparency of public-funded activities, Innovate UK has to publish information relating to funded projects. Please provide a short description of your proposal in a way that will be understandable to the general public. Do not include any commercially confidential information, for example, intellectual property or patent details.

Describe your project. Funding will not be provided to successful projects without this.

6.3 Gateway Question: Scope

Guidance

How does this application align with the specific competition scope?

• all applications must align with the specific competition scope criteria as described in the relevant competition brief
• to demonstrate alignment, you need to show that a clear majority of the project’s objectives and activities are aligned with the specific competition

7. Competition questions

All questions apply to all project partners and are scored out of 10 marks.

7.1 Question 1. Need or challenge

What is the vision for the facility and the future operating model? Describe:

• the viral vector challenges that this investment will help you address and why it is important
• any work you have already carried out to respond to this need

7.2 Question 2. What will you do with the grant?

Explain how you will use the grant. Describe:

• what will you spend the grant on, such as refurbishment, hardware, software, databases and any set up costs for equipment
• how this links with your current capabilities
• how it will make you more competitive

7.3 Question 3. How will the investment help to address the challenge or challenges you have outlined in Question 1?

Describe the outputs that result from the grant, including:

• how you will use the capital investment to advance viral vector research and development and manufacturing
• any new products and services which you and your partners will work towards delivering as a consequence of the grant. How will these impact on the challenges of viral vectors?
• anything that this investment will make possible for other people or organisations

7.4 Question 4. The team and management

Describe the roles, skills and relevant experience of the main people who will be responsible for spending the grant and using any new equipment. Explain:

• who will manage the grant
• any new roles that may be required as a result of the grant

In a separate appendix named ‘Appendix:Q4(application number)’ you may submit in pdf format up to 2 sides of A4 to describe the skills and experience of the main people who will be involved.

7.5 Question 5. Leveraging investment and partnerships

Explain how you will attract funding. Describe:

• how you will attract funding to utilise the equipment and infrastructure in both the short, mid and long-term
• the current relationships between any partners, both in the UK and globally, and how these will change as a result of the investment
• any new partnerships that you aim to establish beyond this funding, and explain your approach to securing these partnerships

7.6 Question 6. The UK landscape

Explain how your proposal will improve or build on existing UK capabilities. Describe:

• any alignment with existing infrastructure, both in the UK and, if appropriate, globally and how this will maximise the impact of the investment
• any impact you anticipate on specific regions of the UK

In a separate appendix named ‘Appendix:Q6(application number)’ you may submit in pdf format up to 2 sides of A4. Describe the relationship between what you plan to establish and what capabilities and infrastructure already exists in the UK and, where appropriate, elsewhere in the world.

7.7 Question 7. Market awareness and competition

While this funding is for capital expenditure only, we would like you to describe the market for the proposed products, and services that will be developed as a consequence of this investment. For this question you should:

• specify the domestic or international market or markets, the market size and trends
• describe, as far as possible, the route to market, including any barriers and how they can be overcome
• describe the competition for the potential products and services
• review other major organisations in the UK that have similar equipment or capabilities to those you would acquire through the grant

7.8 Question 8. Risks

Identify the main risks and uncertainties you will face in trying to deliver quality research and development, and ultimately new products and services, from this investment. In your answer:

• include commercial, managerial and environmental risks, highlighting the most significant ones
• highlight issues that might prevent you and your consortium (if you are working with one) from spending and claiming the grant by 31 March 2018
• explain how these risks will be mitigated

In a separate appendix named ’Appendix:Q8(application number)’ you can submit a risk register of up to 2 sides of A4 in length in pdf.

7.9 Question 9. Additionality

Describe the impact that public funding would have on this project. Tell us:

• whether this programme could go ahead in any form without public funding, and if so, the difference the public funding would make (such as faster routes to market, more partners or reduced risk)
• the likely impact of the investment on the organisations involved
• why you are not able to wholly fund this from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding (in other words, what would happen if the application is unsuccessful)
• explain how this investment would change the nature of your R&D and manufacturing activity

7.10 Question 10. Costs and value for money

How much grant are you requesting, and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer? In order to give evidence for this:

• justify the grant you are requesting by explaining the potential impact on the production of viral vectors
• if a business, explain how you will match (50:50) the grant requested and what you would spend this money on otherwise
• explain how this investment represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

8. Other funding from public sector bodies

If you have included one or more entries in column 7 of the finance summary table (below), please provide:

• the names of the bodies
• the name of the programme or scheme from which the funds are provided
• the fund amounts

9. Finance summary

This table lists the total eligible project costs by organisation. Please note that only certain project costs are eligible for grant funding under UK State Aid rules. See our project costs guidance for information on eligible project costs and how to complete the project finance form.

Column 1 Organisation name	Provide the full names of the lead organisation followed by any other organisations in the project consortium (organisation names as noted in Companies House).
Column 2 Organisation registration number	Organisations should provide the Company Registration Number (as noted in Companies House). Universities/HEIs should enter their RC number/charitable status/legal entity registration number.
Column 3 Enterprise category	Select your enterprise category. SME definition is based on the EU definition Medium sized: Headcount less than 250: Turnover less than 50 million euros or balance sheet total less than 43 million euros Small: Headcount less than 50: Turnover less than 10 million euros or balance sheet total less than 10 million euros Micro: Headcount less than 10: Turnover less than 2 million euros or balance sheet total less than 2 million euros
Column 4 Postcode where majority of work will be done	Provide the postcode where the majority of work will take place for each organisation participating in the project.
Column 5 Contribution to the project by each organisation (£)	List the total contribution to be made to the project by each organisation. Where a university is claiming grant funding, the contribution should be £0.
Column 6 Funding sought from Innovate UK	Enter the funding sought from Innovate UK for each contributing organisation for this competition.
Column 7 Other funding from public sector bodies	Include any funding applied for separately for the project from any other public sector bodies and not as part of this competition. Funding from other public sector bodies might include other applications to research councils, other government departments, devolved administrations, other public sector organisations and some charities. The purpose of this column is to provide Innovate UK with information on the total public funding for the project.
Column 8 Total (£)	The total cost of the project for each contributor. This is the sum of columns 5, 6 and 7 and will be entered automatically.
Bottom row Total (£)	The total of each column will be entered automatically.

Please ensure that you click out of each cell after entering your figures.

10. Finance form

Each non-academic organisation in your project must provide a project finance form using the template project finance form, which is available on the FTP site. This must be submitted in Microsoft Excel format with the application form by the lead applicant. Each finance form provides a detailed breakdown of each organisation’s total eligible project costs. Please ensure that all total figures listed in your finance summary table match those stated in the ‘Form status’ tab within the project finance form.

11. Project appendices

You can only include appendices in support of questions 4, 6 and 8 as described in the guidance for those questions. Submission of any additional appendices/documentation not described in this document will result in your application being judged as ineligible and not sent for assessment. Applications submitted with incorrect appendices, with regard to content or naming convention, will be ineligible and not sent for assessment.

In order that assessors can open and read the appendices, each appendix must:

• conform to the maximum length specifications stated for each question
• be submitted in pdf
• be legible at 100% zoom
• display prominently the ‘application number’ as in the filename of the application form, for example ‘AppendixQ4-(application number eg.123456)’

Please do not submit appendices longer than the specified lengths. Assessors are instructed to only read appendices to the lengths specified in the guidance.