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

Grand Challenges — Breakthrough Innovations to Reduce the Cost of Severe Acute Malnutrition Treatment

Funds global teams developing system-level innovations that reduce the total cost of treating severe acute malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Eligibility · Open globally; focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia implementation context

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

This grant is administered by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under its Grand Challenges program. It funds innovations targeting the system-level cost of treating Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. SAM affects approximately 14 million children under age 5, with treatment success rates of only 50–60% under current protocols at a cost that systems cannot sustain. The program does NOT seek reductions in RUTF unit price (addressed separately by the RUTF cost challenge) — it seeks innovations that reduce total cost per child successfully treated by 20–30% or more through other means.

Two funding options: Option A awards up to $500,000 USD per project for up to 18 months; Option B awards up to $1,500,000 USD per project for up to 36 months. Proposals can select either option, and Gates will consider several awards from each. There is no published total funding pool. Budget must be commensurate with scope; global access requirements apply to all recipients.

For-profit companies, universities, research institutes, NGOs with strong technical capacity, and consortia combining scientific, manufacturing, and implementation expertise are eligible. No registration-country, revenue, or team-size restrictions are stated. Individuals and organizations classified as individuals for U.S. tax purposes are not eligible.

Applications are submitted via the Grand Challenges portal. The 2026 cycle opened in early 2026 and closed April 28, 2026 at 11:30 am PDT. No next cycle date is published; the program is recorded as closed pending announcement of a future round. Proposals must identify a specific innovation with a plausible theory of change, state a measurable cost-reduction target, and demonstrate feasibility within the selected grant term.

Exclusions: innovations that only reduce RUTF unit cost (out of scope — separate program), basic research without a clear implementation pathway, and general health-system strengthening without a specific SAM-cost innovation component.