Pariksha SaathiTDB Commits ₹86 Crore from RDI Fund to Bengaluru's Peptris for AI-Discovered Drug Candidates
The Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science and Technology announced on 12 October 2026 that it has signed an agreement to give Peptris Technologies, a Bengaluru company that uses artificial intelligence to find new medicines, ₹86 crore under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The money supports a ₹172 crore project named VIGOR, which aims to take four drug candidates found with Peptris' AI platform from laboratory validation towards clinical trials over three years. The candidates target neuromuscular disorders and cancer, alopecia (hair loss), neuropathy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In technical terms, the project hopes to lift each molecule from Technology Readiness Level 4 to TRL 6 through preclinical studies, formulation work and the studies needed before an investigational new drug application, subject to regulatory approvals. TDB's support comes as Optionally Convertible Debt rather than a grant. TDB Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak said AI can change how drug candidates are identified, but turning computer predictions into real therapies needs sustained funding and rigorous testing, a gap the RDI Fund is meant to fill.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The Technology Development Board is a statutory body set up under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995, and has been funding the commercialisation of indigenous technology since 1996. It works under the Department of Science and Technology and supports Indian companies through loans, equity and other instruments, rather than funding pure academic research.
Reference: Technology Development Board's official website
Check yourself: what is 'Optionally Convertible Debt', the instrument TDB is using here?
It is a loan that the lender may, at its option and on pre-agreed terms, convert into equity shares of the borrowing company; if the option is not exercised, it is repaid like ordinary debt.
Revision task: compare this item with the RDIF fund-manager news of the same day and note the two different routes through which RDI Fund money is reaching companies.
Test yourself
The Technology Development Board's support to Peptris Technologies under the RDI Fund comes in what form?
Show the answer
Answer: Optionally Convertible Debt
TDB is giving ₹86 crore as Optionally Convertible Debt, not a grant, towards the ₹172 crore VIGOR project, which aims to take four AI-discovered drug candidates from Technology Readiness Level 4 to 6.
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