The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is spearheading the development of indigenous therapeutics for priority rare genetic disorders in India. In line with this, an invitation has been extended to foster collaboration and partnerships among government agencies, non-governmental organizations, healthcare systems, and community-based organizations. According to statistics provided by the Union Health Ministry, India could have between 8.4 crore and 19 crore cases of rare diseases, with over 700 diseases falling into this group. However, the treatments for less than 5% of these disorders are already available. Imported drugs for rare diseases are often extremely expensive, ranging from several lakhs to even crores per year, making them financially unaffordable for the majority of Indian patients. As a result, many patients rely on patient assistance programmes provided by foreign pharmaceutical corporations or turn to crowdfunding to cover treatment costs. In response, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is providing support for pre-clinical and clinical research, as well as regulatory approvals. Following the government’s announcement last year, this initiative stems from the introduction of the inaugural four Indian-manufactured medications for rare diseases, termed as orphan drugs, this endeavor aims to significantly decrease medication expenses thereby enhancing accessibility for Indian patients. The objective of this is to catalyze research, development, commercialization, and localization of therapies such as small molecules, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), substrate reduction therapy (SRT), biosimilars, and other innovative treatments within the country. These efforts aim to address priority rare genetic disorders including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Lysosomal Storage Disorders such as Gaucher Disease, Pompe Disease, Fabry’s Disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), and Niemann Pick Disease, as well as Tyrosinemia, Neurofibromatosis, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia. Interested organization can submit an expression of interest by providing following information including Rationale of proposed work, Background, Study implementation plan, Address feasibility and scalability, Project team, Extent of collaboration sought from ICMR. Additional documents including One-page company profile mentioning the experience in developing therapeutic products and Patents granted should be provided. The EoI can be submitted through ONLINE MODE ONLY by pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies which are already involved or are ready to work in the area of therapeutics in rare genetic diseases in collaboration with ICMR. Last date for EOI submission is 29th February 2024, 11:59 PM.