Grand Challenges — Ultralow-Cost Diagnostics and Screening for Low-Income Countries

Grand Challenges — Ultralow-Cost Diagnostics and Screening for Low-Income Countries

Funds global teams developing diagnostic devices and screening tools that cost approximately $1 per test or near-zero incremental cost per person screened for deployment in low-income countries.

Eligibility · Open globally to all countries

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

This Grand Challenge is run by the Gates Foundation under its Grand Challenges grant program. It funds development of diagnostic devices and consumable test kits that amortize capital to near-zero cost per screening event or hit approximately $1 per test — a step-change below the cost of current LMIC diagnostics. Awards range from $300,000 (proof-of-concept, up to 24 months) to $1,000,000 (mature platform, up to 36 months), with the number of awards per tier depending on proposal quality.

The program covers a wide disease scope including TB, HIV, malaria, STIs, maternal health, anemia, nutrition monitoring, enteric diseases, neglected tropical diseases, and emerging pathogens. Cross-sector or cross-disease platforms initially developed outside health diagnostics are explicitly eligible — if the proposal includes a credible plan to adapt the technology to at least one listed disease area. Manufacturing innovations that reduce reagent and consumable costs also qualify.

For-profit companies, research institutes, nonprofits, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions are all eligible. There are no citizenship, company-age, or revenue restrictions stated. All applicants must comply with the Gates Foundation's global access requirements, which typically require non-exclusive licensing in low-income markets. Collaborations with women-led teams or researchers at LMIC institutions are encouraged.

To apply, teams submit a proposal through the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges portal. The program's March 2026 cycle closed April 28, 2026; decisions are expected by end of August 2026. Applications must include a clear LMIC disease focus area, operational feasibility plan, milestone-based workplan, credible cost pathway to ~$1 per test, and a commitment to independent evaluation participation.

Key caveats: proposals relying on expensive consumables without a mitigation plan will not be funded. Projects unwilling to share prototypes, reagents, or data for third-party assessment are excluded. The program explicitly does not fund implementation, procurement, or roll-out projects without substantive R&D, nor purely incremental improvements to existing approaches.