For applicants

Before you apply for the MDx Impact Grants we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the following eligibility and assessment criteria. This section also contains a link to the Terms and Conditions of the programme, which you must agree to prior to submitting your grant application.

The application process:

Review application eligibility, Terms and Conditions, and scope of the grant.
Complete your application using our submission system, Submittable, prior to the deadline date of November 20, 2025.
All applications are screened and reviewed by the MDx Impact Grants judging panel. A shortlist is drawn.
The shortlisted applicants are contacted directly by Seegene to conduct an onsite evaluation of their facilities.
On completion of the onsite evaluation, Seegene presents its findings to the Nature Awards panel for their final assessment.
The awardees of the MDx Impact Grants are announced.

2025 Scope

This year, the MDx Impact Grants focus on Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Drug Resistance (DR) genes that correspond to clinically important antibiotic resistance genes, such as, CTX-M, KPC, NDM and vanA. Your proposal must include a minimum of nine (9) and up to a maximum of eighteen (18) target genes excluding internal controls.

Additional notes for applicants:
All clinical specimens must be from human sources. All assays are required to be performed on urine specimens and will be used in clinical studies for syndromic PCR diagnostic tests. These assays would be qualitative. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section for further guidance.

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Eligibility

Prior to drafting your grant application, you will be asked to confirm you meet the eligibility requirements for this grant. The eligibility criteria are shown below:

Have access to a laboratory with BSL-2 (Biosafety level 2) or higher, capable of performing the proposed clinical studies.
Have a research team consisting of two or more qualified researchers or plans to hire.
Have experience in PCR.
Possess or have access to both positive and negative clinical specimens or have a collection plan.
Employed by or affiliated with a university, research institution, and clinical laboratory, or other similar organisations.
Eligible to conduct the proposed clinical studies appropriate for regulatory approval.
Hold a doctorate or medical degree (e.g., PhD, MD, PharmD).
Applicants can be of any nationality and projects can be hosted at eligible organisations in any country apart from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Burma/Myanmar, Niger, Russia, Belarus, or the Crimea, Donetsk or Luhansk regions of Ukraine, or other sanction-sensitive countries or regions as updated from time to time.

Assessment criteria

This year’s MDx Impact Grants aim to support the development of commercially viable molecular diagnostic assays for the designated UTI-DR project, in collaboration with the programme partner Seegene. These projects will focus on drug resistance genes proposed by the applicants. In their assessment of applications, the judging panel will consider the following five criteria:

1. Does the applicant demonstrate a thorough understanding of the molecular diagnostic product development process and product design for their proposed project?

In this project, Seegene performs the product design, product development planning, and feasibility studies without clinical specimens, while the awardee conducts assay cut-off evaluation and clinical studies with clinical specimens. The applicant’s ability to plan and conduct the assay cut-off evaluation and clinical studies, including the acquisition of appropriate clinical specimens, should be demonstrated.

2. Does the project include a rigorous clinical study design and plan that meet project objectives?

Clinical study proposals should include a study protocol synopsis, predefined intended use, number of specimens, site information, study duration, study objective, study procedure, reference method, and statistical methods.

3. Does the project demonstrate clearly the scientific background & rationale, and potential clinical and societal impact?

Research proposals should clearly explain the scientific background & rationale and the significance of the contribution they intend to make through the selection of the target genes. The ultimate purpose of this programme is to benefit society and patients through improved techniques, syndromic PCR technology, and Seegene’s Technology Sharing Initiative to enable early diagnosis of diseases.

4. Does the applicant and their research team possess the necessary qualifications and is their project budget feasible?

The applicant (and other team members) should have the requisite skills and experience to conduct the clinical study. The research team members should hold post-graduate degrees and research experience in related fields. Evaluation will be based on the track record of the applicant(s) and the suitability of the host universities and institutions. Additionally, the project budget must be clearly explained and will be assessed for its feasibility in delivering the proposed study plan.

5. Does the proposed project have sufficient access to clinical specimens required to complete the proposed project outline?

Applicants should be able to secure the clinical specimens for the development studies proposed in the application. The number of positive and negative clinical specimens should meet the guidance or requirements for market approval by the target region/country’s regulatory body.

Key dates

Open date: 2 September 2025
Application deadline: 20 November 2025 (23:59 GMT)
Application assessment: November 2025 to August 2026
Shortlist announcement: Mid-March 2026
Successful applicants notified: Mid-August 2026

The budget

The budget is up to 600,000 USD. The award can be used to cover the following eligible costs, but it is subject to change according to the labor costs by country and prices:

1. Consulting service:

The consulting service may be asked by Seegene as a separate agreement for discussion to cover the proposal and assay specifications through the teleconference meeting during the assay development phase. Consulting fees will be included in the overall grant of 600,000 USD.

2. Direct costs

Project specimen costs, personnel expenses, and clinical study costs are direct costs.

Note: Rates, costs and taxes incurred will vary according to your region.

Personnel Expenses: Personnel costs include all the labor cost and compensation for staff that will work directly on this project. For applicants who are submitting multiple applications, the grand total of "Project Allocation" for all applications shall not exceed 1.0 per person. Please discuss any additional personnel costs with the sponsor during onsite evaluation stage.
Project Specimen Costs: Project specimen costs include specimen collection, preparation, storage, management, and transportation (if applicable) costs.
Additional Direct Costs: Additional direct costs include or exclude the following items:

Included: cost of purchasing project reagents (e.g., reference, comparator, and discordant methods), study data management costs, IRB administrative costs, project-related training costs, and any lab consumables & supplies required for the project
Excluded: conference travel expenses (optional, can be included if deemed essential for the execution of this project), publication costs*, capital equipment purchase & rental, software license & subscription not required for the project, and entertainment

* The article can be published only with Seegene’s consent and the publication costs will be supported by Seegene after the completion of the regulatory approval, and product commercialization. Please refer to the Dissemination of results and promotional materials on this section for more details.

3. Indirect costs or institutional overheads

Indirect costs represent the expenses of doing business that are not readily identified with a particular grant, contract, project function or activity, but are necessary for the general operation of the organization and the conduct of activities it performs.

Indirect costs include or exclude the following items:

Included: facilities operation and maintenance costs, facilities depreciation, administrative expenses and utilities
Excluded:

Depreciation for general lab equipment
Education costs
Accommodation and normal living costs.
Reagents, equipment and equipment-related consumables below are not included in the eligible costs but are provided free of charge for the clinical studies.

• Reagents: extraction reagents and Seegene PCR reagent kits
• Equipment: Seegene NIMBUS/Seegene STARlet-AIOS™ and CFX96™ Dx (or CFX OPUS 96™ Dx)
• Equipment-related consumables: tips, tubes, waste bags, PCR tubes, caps and etc.

* Required materials other than the provided consumables, such as comparators, should be included as the direct costs

Reporting and dissemination

Awardees must submit a study report within one month (30 days) from the completion of the assay cut-off evaluation and clinical studies. Report template and a completed example will be provided at the time of the study contract.

The award for the studies is provided in three phases. Initial payment is 30% of the total payment and given on the effective date* of the study contract. The second payment is 30% of the total payment and given after the submission of the assay cut-off evaluation study report. The last payment is 40% of the total payment and given after the submission of the clinical study report.
The award can be rescinded if false information is discovered in the clinical study proposal or attached materials.

* The effective date will differ depending on the individual contract date.

Rights and ownership

The full rights to any and all inventions originating from projects shall be the exclusive property of Seegene.

Before you apply for the MDx Impact Grants, please review the Terms and Conditions.

Dissemination of results and promotional materials

The Awardee and lead institution can make the results generated through the MDx Impact Grants available to the broader scientific community, in consultation with Seegene, through publication in journals, reports, at scientific meetings and through other appropriate routes only after the assay commercialization.

Awardees shall seek Seegene’s written consent prior to publishing any results arising from the research associated directly from the award, avoid publishing any ongoing development, study information, and results prior to assay commercialization. There is no expectation or requirement that research will be published in journals owned or managed by Springer Nature. Where manuscripts are submitted to Springer Nature journals, they will be subjected to the same editorial and review processes and standards as any other submission.

Applicants can request Article Processing Charges for open access publications to Seegene after successful commercialization.

The Awardee should follow good publication practice as set out by, for example, the Committee on Publication Ethics and the Council of Science Editors.

On acceptance of this award, the applicants agree to be interviewed by Seegene or Springer Nature for promotional purposes.

To assist in your application for the MDx Impact Grants, please refer to the links below for additional resources.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted through the online application form.

If you already have an account with Submittable you simply need to log in from the grant application page. New users to Submittable will need to create an account first.

Entries must be complete and submitted by 23:59 GMT on the 20 November 2025 to be eligible. Terms and Conditions are available here.

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