2024 Diagnostic Innovations Funding Round (Closed)

The aim of our second funding round was to help drive an exciting and diverse pipeline of early-stage in vitro diagnostics to improve the diagnosis of bacterial infections with the highest unmet need and burden of antimicrobial resistance. For technical feasibility projects (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3), awards of up to £300,000 were available, whilst awards of up to £1 million were available for product development projects (TRL 4-5).

Innovators and developers worldwide were eligible to apply, and we received 177 expressions of interest from across 37 countries. The successful projects have now been selected for funding and support from PACE, for up to two years and will be announced in late 2025.

Seeking projects with the greatest potential

We were looking for projects developing diagnostics to:

1. Reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions.

2. Provide faster results to indicate which antibiotic should be used.

3. Catalyse the move to personalised, narrow-spectrum treatments.

We prioritised projects developing diagnostic solutions for urinary tract, lower respiratory tract and blood stream (including sepsis) infections. Ideal test characteristics were provided for each indication as a guide for applicants.

Ideal Test Characteristics

What was in scope:

New in-vitro diagnostics in development at TRL stage 3-5 (late TRL 2 considered).
- Between Technical Feasibility and Early Prototype including field studies for generating data in relevant environment.
Adaption of existing diagnostics that could be implemented in new healthcare settings/target regions/countries, or deployed for new indications/use-cases.
Proposals that include potential for community care (e.g. pharmacy, care home, school, community diagnostic centre) or ‘at-home’ use.
Analytes can be a direct measurement of bacterial markers or host-based biomarkers, or combination thereof.
Applications providing solutions tailored to a intended setting. This includes those tailored towards resource-limited settings, including in low and middle income countries (LMICs).

What was out of scope:

Later-stage diagnostic development (TRL6+), incl.
- Longer term studies in support of regulatory filings such as long-term stability studies.
- Manufacturing of the final instrument/scale-up activities.
- Marketing support including submission of marketing approvals.
Tests that require central lab infrastructure.
Standalone: pathogen ID, technology/method/device development, algorithm/ML model development, biomarker identification/validation, pilot lot production of reagents and instruments.
Surveillance-only approaches and solutions to improve empiric treatment based on surveillance data.
Diagnostics focused solely on fungal/viral/parasitic infections, sexually-transmitted infections or TB.
Projects over 2 years in duration.

Application Process

The expression of interest phase opened on 26 September 2024 and closed on 30 October 2024. In December 2024, shortlisted applicants were invited to the full application stage. From January 2025, we supported shortlisted applicants to develop their full applications as part of a 2-month Catalyser. Following rigorous review of the full applications, final funding decisions were communicated in July 2025, with an expectation of project initiation within three months of receipt of the award letter. Key steps in the process are summarised.