Sustained Viral Resilience

Examples of in-scope approaches include but are not limited to:

• Modulation of innate immune cells at the epigenetic level, e.g. trained immunity inducers or epigenetic editing;
• Modulation of innate immune cells at the genetic level, e.g gene editing of sentinel cells or siRNA targeting negative regulators of innate immunity;
• Modulation of innate immunity at the protein level, e.g. synthetic recombinant cytokines engineered for biological specificity and longer half-lives, or sustained release of small molecules targeting innate immune proteins;
• Modulation of innate immunity at the cellular population level, e.g. induced expansion of innate-like T-cells;
• Both preclinical and clinical work.

Out-of-scope approaches include:

• Traditional approaches to viral prophylaxis relying on adaptive immunity, e.g. broadly neutralising antibodies or vaccines where efficacy relies on the production of antigen-specific B- and T-cells;
• Direct-acting antivirals;
• Antivirals targeting host factors unrelated to innate immunity, such as host receptors;
• Approaches that could only strengthen innate immunity for much shorter than the programme target calls for, even in principle (e.g., mRNA-encoded IFN);
• Ex vivo gene therapy approaches.

In-scope activities include but are not limited to:

• Creation of multi-omics datasets to inform sustained innate immunoprophylactic (SIIP) discovery, e.g. characterisation of human innate immune responses predictive of protection against symptomatic respiratory viral disease in a challenge or natural infection setting;
• Development of improved models for SIIP testing, e.g. development of advanced in vivo models with humanised innate immune systems, or advancement of infrastructure for controlled human infection studies.

Out-of-scope activities include:

• Work that accelerates drug or vaccine development in general without distinct utility for SIIP development, e.g. developing foundation models for protein or genome design);
• Fundamental research on innate immunology with only indirect ties to SIIP development;
• Proposals that strictly provide existing services to our Creators rather than developing something new (these may be better fits for partnerships).

In-scope activities include but are not limited to:

• Regulatory science and innovation, e.g. engaging with both SIIP developers and regulators to map regulatory pathways for SIIPs;
• Health economics research, e.g. modelling the impact of SIIPs on healthcare systems and recipients, for either endemic or pandemic viruses;
• Science communication, e.g. writing about the scientific and non-scientific challenges and opportunities associated with SIIPs to the general public or other stakeholder audiences.

Out-of-scope activities include:

• Work that facilitates the clinical translation or commercialisation of drugs or vaccines in general without distinct utility for SIIPs, e.g. general funding for a start-up incubator;
• Strictly providing existing services to our Creators rather than developing something new (these may be better fits for partnerships);
• A large amount of laboratory experimental work (these may be a better fit for the TA2 track).