This Drug Repurposing Venture Challenge will demonstrate that drug repurposing can deliver on the promise of ‘faster, more affordable and available to patients’ in a socially responsible manner. This is done by doing business based on the principles of socially responsible licensing.

What does fit

• Primary focus: existing drugs being repurposed for a new promising indication for which the drug is not (yet) registered.
• The drug is covered by the Medicines Act.
• The drug should be (have been) registered for another indication.
• There is at least a proof-of-concept (pre-clinical or clinical) that the drug has efficacy in the new indication(s).
• The start-up can generate new intellectual property (e.g. new indication, reformulation, dosage, administration, companion diagnostics) and/or otherwise obtain exclusivity to be able to attract funding.
• Secondary focus: drugs that are not yet (have not been) registered for an indication but have been previously investigated in phase 2 or 3 clinical trials for another indication.

What does not fit

• New applications aimed at an obvious indication widening of the current indication.
• New applications primarily aimed at dose optimisation or reformulation for an existing indication (for which the drug is already registered).
• The efficacy of the new product is insufficiently validated through concrete, supporting (e.g. pre-clinical) data.
• If there is insufficient confidence that at least two members of the project team will be present at each Venture Challenge meeting.
• If one or more members of the project team have previously participated in the regular Venture Challenge programme or a predecessor programme with the same new application of an already existing technology, without this technology or new application having been significantly improved.
• If there is insufficient confidence that the members of the project team have the capabilities to build a successful Venture Challenge startup.

Prioritisation

• Primarily, this Venture Challenge is for existing drugs that are being repurposed for a new promising indication for which the drug is not (yet) registered.
• Secondarily, there is also possibility of team(s) participating that focus on promising innovations of new drugs. These are drugs that are not (yet) registered for an indication but have previously been investigated in phase 2 or 3 clinical trials for another indication.

If there are many applications, the above will be included as a consideration in the selection of teams.