Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Conscience

Conscience, formerly known as the Viral Medicines Initiative, is a Toronto-based non-profit organization founded in 2020 and officially launched in 2023 with federal support. Its creation was part of a national strategy to strengthen biomedical innovation in Canada. Developed in partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium and led by internationally recognized researchers and industry leaders, Conscience is dedicated to addressing gaps in drug development where urgent medical needs exist but commercial solutions are absent. Its mission is to accelerate the development of new treatments through a model rooted in open science and radical collaboration.

By embracing open science, Conscience promotes transparent sharing of research findings among all stakeholders – universities, companies, governments and non-profits – to break down silos and avoid duplication of efforts. The organization also leverages artificial intelligence to accelerate compound screening and optimize preclinical stages, reducing both costs and timelines. Its work is focused on areas that attract limited private-sector investment, such as antivirals for pandemic preparedness, treatments for antimicrobial resistance, and therapies for rare and pediatric diseases.

As a mandatary of funding support programs, Conscience manages several initiatives aligned with its mission. One program provides financial support for collaborative preclinical research projects in neglected therapeutic areas, demonstrating that an open model can generate tangible breakthroughs. Another program helps innovators adopt open science by partially funding access to specialized advisory services in areas such as regulatory affairs, intellectual property and commercialization. Conscience also oversees an international open science challenge platform, designed as a friendly competition where experts in computational science, AI and chemistry propose virtual molecules to target specific biological mechanisms. These predictions are tested in laboratories, and all results are shared publicly without patent restrictions, fostering collective progress.

Through these initiatives, Conscience expects to support over one hundred cutting-edge research projects across Canada and to foster the creation of new start-ups dedicated to drug discovery. These efforts are anticipated to leverage significant private-sector co-investment and generate highly skilled jobs, strengthening Canada’s life sciences ecosystem. Early funded projects already highlight this commitment, targeting conditions such as a pediatric brain cancer, a genetic neuromuscular disorder and a rare liver disease. By uniting a broad network of public and private partners and championing an open innovation model, Conscience acts as a catalyst for accessible medical discoveries and helps position Canada at the forefront of next-generation pharmaceutical research.