Wellcome Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Award

Wellcome Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Award

Funds clinical trial teams in low and middle income settings to test infectious disease interventions effectively.

The Wellcome Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Award is a one-off competitive call administered by Wellcome Trust in partnership with the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), using official UK international development funding. The award supports transdisciplinary teams to conduct randomised controlled trials (RCTs) optimising licensed pharmaceutical interventions for specified infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Eligible disease areas are mycobacterial infections (tuberculosis, leprosy, and non-tuberculous mycobacteria), bacterial infections (sexually transmitted infections, lower respiratory tract infections, and bloodstream infections), invasive fungal infections, and dengue, leishmaniasis, or schistosomiasis. Awards range from £1 million to £8 million and fund 3–5 years of work; Wellcome expects to make 8–12 awards in this call.

The lead applicant and at least one coapplicant must be based at an organisation in Africa, South Asia, or South-East Asia (excluding mainland China) and intend to remain resident for the award duration. At least 50% of all applicants must be based in one of these regions. Commercial organisations may not serve as the administering organisation. Teams must not exceed eight applicants and must already hold a clinical trial protocol or pilot data; teams still developing their protocol should apply instead to the companion Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Development Award. The application deadline is 2 June 2026.

Applications are assessed by an external committee against three criteria: the research proposal (50% weighting), the team's skills and experience (25%), and engagement with stakeholders (25%). Proposals must demonstrate how trial results will drive changes to policy, practice, or national and global guidelines, and must address equitable access — including affordability and availability of the intervention post-trial. Public health stakeholders or policymakers must be included as coapplicant or collaborator. Teams with strong existing clinical trial infrastructure in the target regions, pilot data, and clearly mapped policy-change pathways are best positioned to win.