Reaction to China's new biomedical funding programmes has been mixed. Credit: GUANG NIU/GETTY IMAGES

Next month, China will start pouring money into two long-awaited 'megaprojects' in infectious disease and drug discovery. But although scientists welcome the funding bonanza, many criticize how it is being administered — especially because, after waiting more than two years for the announcement, scientists were given only a few weeks to apply.

In February 2006, the national medium- and long-term programme for science and technology development, which lays out plans up to 2020, called for investments in biomedical sciences. After debate among the ministries of health, science and technology, and industry — along with the powerful National Development and Reform Commission — it was decided that the health ministry would take the lead. But the negotiations took so long that requests for grant applications did not go out until the middle of last month.

Funding levels are not yet set, but insiders say roughly 6 billion yuan (US$880 million) will be allocated for drug discovery and 3 billion yuan for infectious disease research. "The funding is huge — an unprecedented amount," says Ray Yip, who works on infectious disease at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Beijing. In addition to university and institute researchers, industrial researchers can apply if their company is majority Chinese-owned.

Projects that win funding will run between October 2008 and December 2010. It is still unclear, however, whether all of the funding earmarked for this first stage will be squeezed into the next two years or allowed to carry over to the next Five Year Plan.

The infectious-disease money will go to research on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and tuberculosis. The drug-discovery money will target ten major diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and mental illness. The biggest chunks of cash, however, will go towards the establishment of Good Laboratory Practice platforms — in which scientists establish procedures to ensure the accuracy of safety data of laboratory materials — and Good Clinical Practice platforms, which ensure the rights and the safety of patients involved in clinical trials. "The number-one goal is to make similar regulations to those in the United States and elsewhere," says Wei He, an immunologist at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, who was pulled in to organize the review of the applications in August and hasn't had a day off since.

Yip says that the financial lure of the megaprojects might help remedy China's shortage of experienced biomedical researchers. "It will no doubt attract talented people," he says. "Those who didn't want to go back because the grants were too small will now find that they can get several million dollars to do a research project. The tables will start turning."

The projects are being rushed through in a post-Olympics scurry. The deadline for infectious disease applications was 31 August, just 16 days after the request for applications went up on the health ministry website. Likewise, researchers had only three weeks to meet the 11 September deadline for applications to the drug-discovery project. The review process will be similarly speedy, taking between ten days and a fortnight. Distribution of funds will start in October.

Many scientists are angry at being hurried, although they shy away from publicly criticizing the project while their applications are under review. One molecular biologist in Guangzhou called the last-minute rush "ridiculous", saying it would reduce the quality of proposals. Noting that some proposals had already been rejected without any explanation, he said the review is "like a black hole".

Although the application forms claim the procedure will include "public announcement, free application, expert review [and] merit-based selection", some wonder whether the speedy application and evaluation procedures mean the winners have already been picked. "It only benefits the people who knew about it long before everyone else," says the head of a Shanghai biotech company. Even those not critical of the project say the money will go to the usual suspects. Others say the ministry should have taken more time explaining the projects and their goals to those not in the inner circle.

A senior biologist in Beijing criticizes the focus on hepatitis B, given that a vaccine already exists. He says that he wonders whether the money might be more effective if it were split between vaccination programmes and other research programmes. "These megaprojects are covers for dividing up funds, not driven by real goals," he says.

There is also concern about whether the funding will be spread too thinly. "It will help everyone a little bit, but not have a big impact on new drug development," says a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. Yip is more positive about the infectious-disease money. "Even if they spread it around," he says, "there is still a substantial amount."

Some scientists contacted by Nature said they could easily repackage their existing research for the megaprojects. Others brush aside criticisms, noting that those familiar with the Chinese funding system should have been ready. Results of the selection process are expected later this month.