The Technology Development Board (TDB) signed an agreement on 12 October 2026 with Bengaluru based Peptris Technologies Private Limited to provide ₹86 crore under the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The support will fund the ₹172 crore VIGOR project, which aims to take four Artificial Intelligence discovered drug candidates from laboratory validation to early human trials. The project will run for three years and use a financing tool called Optionally Convertible Debt.
What Is the RDI Fund?
The Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund is a ₹1 lakh crore scheme approved on 1 July 2025 for loans and equity to firms for research in sunrise sectors. The Department of Science and Technology runs it through a Special Purpose Fund in the Anusandhan National Research Foundation.
The Union Cabinet approved the RDI Scheme with an outlay of ₹1 lakh crore over six years, including ₹20,000 crore in 2025-26. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the nodal ministry for implementation. DST prepared the implementation guidelines in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Expenditure, and the Executive Council of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) approved them.
ANRF is the apex research body created under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023. The Act dissolved the earlier Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), which had been set up in 2008, and placed its work inside ANRF. The RDI Fund operates as a Special Purpose Fund within ANRF. ANRF acts as the first level custodian of the corpus and does not directly fund companies. It channels money to Second Level Fund Managers, who then select and finance eligible technology firms.
The Technology Development Board (TDB) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have been designated as Second Level Fund Managers. BIRAC is a public sector body that supports biotechnology startups and industry. TDB launched its call for proposals on 4 February 2026, while BIRAC launched its call on 13 February 2026. The scheme provides mainly long term, low interest or nil interest loans. In select cases it can also provide equity, especially for startups, and it can contribute to a Deep Tech Fund of Funds.
Technology Development Board Role and the ₹86 Crore Agreement
The Technology Development Board (TDB) is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). TDB was set up on 1 September 1996 under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995. Its mandate is to support the development and commercial use of indigenous technology and the adaptation of imported technology for wider domestic use.
TDB usually provides loans, equity and grants. Its core support covers up to half the project cost as a soft loan at 5 percent simple interest per year. Under the RDI Fund route, the instrument is different. TDB will release the ₹86 crore to Peptris as Optionally Convertible Debt (OCD). OCD starts as a loan and gives the lender an option to convert the amount into equity shares later under agreed terms. It is not an outright grant and the money is expected to return to the fund or convert into ownership value if the project succeeds.
The VIGOR agreement covers half the total cost. The total project cost is ₹172 crore, so TDB funds 50 percent and Peptris and its private backers carry the remaining ₹86 crore. This shared funding keeps private capital at risk alongside public money. The work period is three years. The funds will be released in stages linked to technical milestones such as preclinical results, formulation work and readiness for human trials. TDB Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak (as of October 2026) said the RDI Fund is meant to close the gap between invention and clinical use and to build national strength in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and AI based health innovation.
What Is AI Drug Discovery and How Does VIGOR Use It?
AI drug discovery is the use of machine learning models to scan large chemical libraries, predict safety and potency, and design new molecules before laboratory testing begins. Peptris uses its proprietary pepAI platform to perform this filtering and to create novel chemical entities for testing in cells and animal models.
Peptris Technologies Private Limited is a Bengaluru based preclinical drug discovery company founded in 2019. It operates from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) campus in Bengaluru and follows a virtual research model. The team builds computational models in house and outsources synthesis and wet lab validation to contract research organisations (CROs), which are specialised firms hired to run laboratory and trial work.
The platform combines unsupervised learning and generative AI. Unsupervised learning studies patterns in vast chemical data without human labels, while generative AI proposes new structures that could fit a disease target precisely. Peptris reports that its system can screen more than 300 million molecules, rank them for activity, safety, patent potential and toxicity, and shortlist only a small set for physical testing. This cuts time and cost because traditional discovery often takes over a decade and tests thousands of compounds through trial and error.
The project title is VIGOR: Advancing AI-Discovered Molecules from Bench to Clinic. Bench to clinic means moving a molecule from laboratory benches through animal studies and formulation into studies that prepare it for human trials. VIGOR will advance four AI discovered experimental drugs through advanced preclinical studies, formulation development, Investigational New Drug enabling studies and preparation for clinical trials. Investigational New Drug enabling studies are the safety, manufacturing and quality tests a regulator reviews before allowing human testing.
The four candidates have already shown proof of concept in laboratory and animal models. They will now face stricter validation.
| Candidate | Therapeutic Focus |
|---|---|
| PEPR111 | Neuromuscular disorders and oncology (cancer) |
| PEPRX101 | Alopecia, which is medical hair loss |
| PEPR202 | Neuropathy, which is nerve damage and pain |
| PEPR112 | Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a rare genetic muscle wasting disorder |
Peptris has earlier experience in this space. Its AI discovered asset PEPR124 (RT-001), a repurposed candidate for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, was licensed to Revio Therapeutics and received Orphan Drug Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration. Orphan Drug Designation is a special status for drugs aimed at rare diseases, and it brings regulatory support and market benefits. That track record helps explain why public funding is backing the wider VIGOR pipeline.
TRL-4 to TRL-6 Scale Explained
Technology Readiness Level is a nine point scale that measures how mature a technology is, from basic idea at TRL-1 to full commercial product at TRL-9. NASA created the scale and India uses it to judge when research is ready for investment.
The RDI Fund supports only technologies at TRL-4 and above. This threshold marks the point where an idea has left pure research and must prove itself in realistic tests. VIGOR will move four candidates from TRL-4 to TRL-6, which is the bridge between animal proof and human safety testing.
| Level | What It Means for Drug Development |
|---|---|
| TRL-4 | Proof of concept in laboratory and animal models. Safety and efficacy of the candidate formulation are shown in defined animal studies, along with early tests of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. |
| TRL-5 | Advanced preclinical validation under Good Laboratory Practice. Good Laboratory Practice is a certified quality system for reliable lab studies. Work includes detailed toxicity tests, scalable manufacturing plans and preparation of the regulatory dossier. |
| TRL-6 | Regulatory filing and first human testing. The firm manufactures pilot batches under Good Manufacturing Practice, submits an Investigational New Drug package and conducts Phase 1 trials in a small group of volunteers to check safety and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacokinetics is the study of how the body absorbs, distributes and clears a drug. |
All four VIGOR candidates are at TRL-4 today. Success would mean complete preclinical packages, regulator ready data and readiness to start Phase 1 trials by the end of the three year period. TRL-6 does not mean the drugs are proven or approved. It means they are ready for controlled human safety testing, which is still a long distance from a market medicine.
Sunrise and Strategic Sectors Covered Under the Fund
Sunrise sectors are fast growing areas where early research support can build future economic strength and reduce import dependence. The RDI Fund lists five such groups as priority areas for financing.
| Priority Area | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Energy security and climate action | Clean energy, transition technologies and climate solutions |
| Deep technology | Quantum computing, robotics and space systems |
| Artificial Intelligence | AI applied to Indian needs in agriculture, health and education |
| Biotechnology and pharma | Biotechnology, biomanufacturing, synthetic biology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices |
| Digital economy | Digital platforms including digital agriculture |
VIGOR sits at the overlap of two priority areas. It uses Artificial Intelligence for health and it develops biotechnology and pharmaceutical products. The guidelines also allow support in other strategic areas where domestic production matters for economic security and self reliance, and in any other technology identified in public interest with approval from the empowered group of secretaries.
Only eligible technology entities working at TRL-4 and above can receive support. Eligible entities include startups, companies registered under the Companies Act and industry led research projects. This design targets the difficult middle stage of innovation. Early laboratory ideas often get small grants, and mature products get bank loans. The middle stage, where animal validation and pilot manufacturing need large funds, usually faces a funding gap. The RDI Fund aims to fill that gap with patient, long term capital.
Bench to Clinic Pathway and Clinical Trials in India
The drug development process moves in clear stages. Discovery finds a promising molecule. Preclinical work tests it in cells and animals. Clinical trials then test it in humans in three phases. Phase 1 checks safety in a small group. Phase 2 checks efficacy in patients. Phase 3 confirms benefits in large groups before market approval.
VIGOR covers the preclinical bridge and preparation for Phase 1. The funded work includes Good Laboratory Practice toxicity studies, formulation development and manufacturing of pilot batches under Good Manufacturing Practice. Good Manufacturing Practice is the certified standard for producing medicines that are pure, stable and safe for human use.
In India, human trials are governed by the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019. A firm must obtain permission from the central licensing authority and approval from a registered ethics committee before starting a trial. Every trial must also be registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI), which is the national public database hosted by the Indian Council of Medical Research. These checks apply equally to AI discovered molecules. AI can speed up discovery, but it does not bypass safety review.
This matters for interpretation. The TDB announcement is a financing agreement, not a drug approval. The ₹86 crore is approved support, and actual release will follow milestone verification. The four candidates remain experimental. Their safety and benefit will be known only after rigorous animal toxicology and, if permitted, phased human trials.
Significance and the Way Forward
India is strong in generic drug manufacturing but has a smaller footprint in original drug innovation. AI led discovery offers a lower cost entry into high value innovation because it reduces wet lab cycles and improves candidate selection. The VIGOR deal signals that public risk capital will now back domestic AI led discovery in addition to established manufacturing strengths.
The model also protects public money better than a pure grant. Because the support is Optionally Convertible Debt and covers only half the cost, Peptris must bring matching funds and meet milestones for continued release. If the molecules succeed, the fund can recover value through repayment or equity conversion and redeploy it into new research. If they fail at validation, the loss is shared and the scientific learning still feeds future pipelines.
The next markers to watch are completion of Good Laboratory Practice toxicity packages, filing of Investigational New Drug applications, CTRI registration for any Phase 1 study and independent reporting of safety results. Broader progress will depend on how quickly TDB and BIRAC clear more RDI proposals, bring in additional fund managers and extend support across other sunrise sectors such as quantum, space, clean energy and the digital economy.
Key Takeaways
- The Technology Development Board signed an agreement on 12 October 2026 with Peptris Technologies, Bengaluru for ₹86 crore under the RDI Fund.
- The VIGOR project has a total cost of ₹172 crore and will advance four AI discovered drug candidates from TRL-4 to TRL-6 over three years.
- Support is provided as Optionally Convertible Debt, not a grant, covering 50 percent of the project cost.
- The RDI Scheme has a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore and was approved by the Cabinet on 1 July 2025, with DST as nodal ministry and ANRF as first level custodian.
- TDB, set up on 1 September 1996 under the TDB Act, 1995, and BIRAC act as Second Level Fund Managers for the scheme.
