The funding
The Technology Development Board (TDB), working under the Department of Science and Technology, has signed an agreement with Bengaluru-based Peptris Technologies Private Limited to provide Rs 86 crore in financial support for artificial-intelligence-led drug discovery and development. The agreement was confirmed through an official statement on Monday, October 12, 2026.
The funding comes from the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund and will be extended as optionally convertible debt rather than a conventional grant. The programme it supports, titled VIGOR: Advancing AI-Discovered Molecules from Bench to Clinic, has a total project cost of Rs 172 crore, with the TDB support covering half of that amount.
What VIGOR aims to do
The three-year programme seeks to address one of the hardest problems in AI-led pharmaceutical research: converting molecules identified by computation into genuine therapeutic candidates that can survive laboratory validation, preclinical testing and clinical development.
VIGOR will advance four drug candidates from Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-4 to TRL-6 through advanced preclinical research, experimental validation and preparation for clinical trials. The four candidates are PEPR111, targeting neuromuscular disorders and oncology; PEPRX101, focused on alopecia; PEPR202, targeting neuropathy; and PEPR112, focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Peptris plans to use its proprietary AI-driven drug discovery platform alongside established drug development processes. The programme covers advanced preclinical investigations, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies, formulation development and clinical trial preparation, all subject to scientific outcomes and regulatory requirements. Its focus is on therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs.
Why it matters
The agreement is one of the larger recent examples of the Indian government backing indigenous AI-to-molecule research directly. While several Indian pharma companies already use machine learning in drug discovery, government-funded programmes of this scale remain rare, and the TDB has framed the support as a step toward strengthening India's pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem.
Sources:
Lokmat Times: Govt approves Rs 86 crore support for Peptris' AI-driven drug development programme
IBG News: TDB-DST commits Rs 86 crore to Peptris for AI-powered drug discovery and development
The Technology Development Board (TDB), working under the Department of Science and Technology, has signed an agreement with Bengaluru-based Peptris Technologies Private Limited to provide Rs 86 crore in financial support for artificial-intelligence-led drug discovery and development. The agreement was confirmed through an official statement on Monday, October 12, 2026.
The funding comes from the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund and will be extended as optionally convertible debt rather than a conventional grant. The programme it supports, titled VIGOR: Advancing AI-Discovered Molecules from Bench to Clinic, has a total project cost of Rs 172 crore, with the TDB support covering half of that amount.
What VIGOR aims to do
The three-year programme seeks to address one of the hardest problems in AI-led pharmaceutical research: converting molecules identified by computation into genuine therapeutic candidates that can survive laboratory validation, preclinical testing and clinical development.
VIGOR will advance four drug candidates from Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-4 to TRL-6 through advanced preclinical research, experimental validation and preparation for clinical trials. The four candidates are PEPR111, targeting neuromuscular disorders and oncology; PEPRX101, focused on alopecia; PEPR202, targeting neuropathy; and PEPR112, focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Peptris plans to use its proprietary AI-driven drug discovery platform alongside established drug development processes. The programme covers advanced preclinical investigations, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies, formulation development and clinical trial preparation, all subject to scientific outcomes and regulatory requirements. Its focus is on therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs.
Why it matters
The agreement is one of the larger recent examples of the Indian government backing indigenous AI-to-molecule research directly. While several Indian pharma companies already use machine learning in drug discovery, government-funded programmes of this scale remain rare, and the TDB has framed the support as a step toward strengthening India's pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem.
Sources:
Lokmat Times: Govt approves Rs 86 crore support for Peptris' AI-driven drug development programme
IBG News: TDB-DST commits Rs 86 crore to Peptris for AI-powered drug discovery and development
