Frequently Asked Questions – Developing Medicines through Open Science (DMOS)

To evaluate whether your project aligns with the DMOS scope, consider the following questions:

1. Does your project address an unmet medical need?
2. Do you have a plan to make your therapeutic product affordable (for example, by following the cost-plus principle)?
3. Do you have a strategy to ensure that the therapeutic product developed through this project will be globally accessible?
4. Is your research at the preclinical or early to mid-clinical stage, within Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 2–7?
5. Does your project include at least one Canadian small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)?
6. Do you have matching funds to cover the remaining project costs?
7. Do you commit to Conscience’s Open Science Policy?

If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then your project is in scope. If you would like to discuss your project further, please feel free to reach out to us via email, and we would be happy to assist you.

We do not have a preference for any specific modality. Projects of all kinds can be submitted, and modality is not a factor in our selection criteria.

Yes, vaccine development is within the scope of the program, provided that the vaccine targets an unmet medical need.

Yes, DMOS supports projects at all stages of drug discovery and development from lead identification to early and mid-stage clinical projects. The maximum amount of funding that can be awarded varies according to the project’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL), up to a maximum of $2M for clinical-stage projects.

No, there is no fixed number of projects per TRL that we plan to fund. The distribution of funds will depend on the number and quality of proposals received at each TRL.

To determine the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of your project, refer to the following guidelines regarding the type of work associated with each TRL:

• TRL 2-3:  Projects at this stage should have validated targets and developed cellular assays. The objective should be to identify (TRL2) and enhance (TRL3) the potency, selectivity, and cell permeability of compounds (i.e. “hits”) to produce one or more viable “lead” compounds. For these projects, activities include screening, in vitro assay, structure-activity relationship chemistry, in vitro toxicity analysis.

• TRL 3-4: This stage focuses on lead optimization. Projects should already have potent, cell-permeable, and selective lead compounds. The goal is to improve drug-like properties by modifying the lead compound series. For these projects, activities include medicinal chemistry, testing lead compounds in animal models, conducting Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) studies, performing in vivo toxicity analysis, and selecting a candidate drug for further preclinical studies.

• TRL 4-6: Projects at this stage should have a drug candidate with an established pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile. The objective is to generate the preclinical data necessary for regulatory approval of clinical trials. This includes animal pharmacology, toxicology, and efficacy studies, as well as manufacturing data (formulation, stability, and processes) and conducting required toxicity and efficacy studies under Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) protocols, along with chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) studies.

• TRL 6-7: These projects will seek to demonstrate clinical utility and feasibility in an appropriate operational environment and generate (i) human safety data and (ii) proof of concept for human efficacy. Such clinical studies can include dose-ranging and safety studies in healthy individuals, and small-scale efficacy studies in patients to determine therapeutic doses and report adverse events.

At least one Canadian SME is required for eligibility. Foreign SMEs can participate as co-investigators or collaborators, but they cannot be the Principal Investigator. Please note that we can only fund a maximum of 5% of the total project cost outside of Canada. The rest of the funding must be spent within Canada.

For our program, an SME is an organization (for-profit or not-for-profit) registered in Canada with fewer than 500 paid employees.

Yes, an organization or applicant can submit several LOIs.

While we currently do not have a dedicated system for matchmaking, we recognize its importance and are actively working on it. In the meantime, applicants are encouraged to submit their applications and indicate their collaboration needs. We will do our best to help connect you with potential SME partners.

You can submit your Letter of Intent (LOI) to either CQDM or Conscience through our online grants management system. Please indicate in your LOI that you are seeking matching funds from CQDM, and we coordinate with them.

Below are the definitions for each role:

• Principal Investigator (PI): The researcher leading the project and receiving funding. If there is more than one PI, please designate one lead PI and refer to the others as Co-Investigators (Co-I).
• Co-Investigator (Co-I): Researcher(s) responsible for project activities and also receiving funding.
• Collaborator: Researcher(s) involved in the project but not receiving funding.

After you submit your Letter of Intent (LOI), we will review it. If selected, you will receive a notification email, and when you log back into the online grants management system, you will see the full proposal application available to you. Please refer to the program overview for the deadlines relevant to the current funding round.

In general, matching funds can come from any source as long as they are used to cover actual, incurred, and eligible expenses recorded in the recipient’s accounts. For SME applicants however, at least 25% of the total project cost must come from non-Canadian government sources. This 25% funds requirement does not apply to academic applicants.

Matching funds must be secured by the full proposal submission deadline. Proof of secured matching funds is a mandatory requirement in the full proposal application, and the funds must be accessible by the start of the grant agreement. Note that Conscience will only cover 10-50% of the project cost. Since the Strategic Innovation Fund, which supports our program, operates as a reimbursement fund, recipients should be prepared to cover costs upfront with their own funds until reimbursement is processed.

Yes, however, only up to 5% of the total project cost can be allocated to eligible expenses incurred outside of Canada.

a) Yes, each participant must secure their own matching funds, as our program will only fund 10-50% of each participant’s budget.

b) Yes, a participant with sufficient funds can transfer funds to another participant who lacks resources, and the receiving participant can use those funds as matching funds.

Conscience adopts an open science first approach and prefers projects that are fully open, meaning without patents. However, this does not automatically preclude patenting. Conscience may consider adapting its open science approach to accommodate specific scientific, technical, or commercial circumstances, for example where there is a pre-existing patent to the therapy or where co-funders require traditional intellectual property arrangements. This is only done where the project continues to align with Conscience’s goal of enabling available and affordable therapeutic interventions.

In such cases, Conscience may permit limited intellectual property rights, including patents or trade secrets, where these are reasonably necessary to ensure that medicines reach patients. Any such exceptions must be justified by the applicant, are assessed on a case by case basis, and are structured to maintain maximal openness across project outputs. Applicants are expected to clearly justify any departure from full openness.

The value proposition for SMEs can vary significantly based on their business model, assets, and target indications. For SMEs successfully securing risk capital from investors, the current patent system effectively supports their endeavors, indicating a well-functioning market.However, for SMEs facing challenges in securing investment, our collaborative program offers significant advantages. SMEs with specialized expertise or technological platforms can receive funding for specific projects, while sharing data through the program can increase their visibility and potentially open doors for further funding opportunities.

For SMEs with project molecules deemed less attractive by  investors (e.g. due to lower expected returns), our program provides an alternative path to drug development, for example by leveraging regulatory exclusivities, which can still lead to commercialization.

We encourage applicants to review Conscience’s Guiding Principles to better understand how we approach intellectual property and open science across different project and business contexts.

Absolutely! At Conscience, we take a collaborative approach to grants management and work closely with our grantees throughout the project. We help our grantees adhere to our Open Science Policy by assisting them in finding suitable repositories and developing an Output Management and Sharing Plan that will be made publicly accessible no later than the end of the project. This Plan will list all output types generated through the project, provide details about where and how the grantee will share them, and the conditions under which they can be reused.

We encourage you to review our Open Science Policy If you still have questions, please contact our Senio Program Manager for Drug Discovery and Development, Resham Chhabra, at [email protected].

Yes. Our Open Science Policy only extends to the project molecules, project data, any methods or materials created for the purpose of completing a DMOS project, and methods or materials that are practically necessary to use the project molecules and data. If you develop new materials or methods for a purpose other than the completion of a DMOS project you may protect them as you wish. However, complying with this policy means that if those new methods or materials are used in the DMOS project and are needed to replicate results, full descriptions must be shared publicly in accordance with the Output Management and Sharing Plan, which may have implications on efforts to obtain or enforce intellectual property rights.

DMOS projects are supported by funds from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (Canada). Under Conscience’s agreement with ISED, there are restrictions concerning how IP can be sold and licenced, including a requirement to obtain approval before selling it outside of Canada for 5 years and around granting exclusive licenses. Any IP created to complete a project that is outside the scope of this policy will be subject to those restrictions. Failure to comply with this policy may result in a requirement to return all project funding to Conscience. Finally, the secrecy required to obtain a patent may prevent you from sharing information that could lead to useful outside input and hinder collaboration.

Yes, you or anyone else is fully free to patent later advances or alterations to Project Molecules. Whether such advances qualify for patent protection, or whether such protection is advisable, is a business decision you must make. Obtaining such a patent may, however, prevent you from obtaining further funds under the DMOS program.