Deadline Date: December 10, 2025
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £25 million through the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst programme to support innovation projects that address key health and healthcare challenges.
The focus areas include disease prevention and proactive management of health and chronic conditions, earlier and better detection and diagnosis of disease leading to better patient outcomes, tailored treatments that either change the underlying disease or offer potential cures, transforming the delivery of healthcare, the development of digital health technologies, and consumer focused self care.
The industry-led R&D competition aims to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing innovative health solutions that improve the competitiveness and productivity of UK-based partners. The Biomedical Catalyst programme supports pre-market R&D projects and requires applicants to demonstrate existing evidence of commercial and technical feasibility.
Funding for the Biomedical Catalyst 2025: Industry-led R&D small projects strand provides up to £500,000 in grant support. Projects can have total eligible costs of up to £4 million, with total grant requests not exceeding £2 million. Each project must last between six and thirty-six months, start by 1 July 2026, and conclude by 30 June 2029.
Projects must be conducted in the UK, and funded organisations must intend to exploit their project results from or in the UK. Eligible activities include experimental evaluation at laboratory scale, use of in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate proof of concept or safety, exploring production mechanisms, prototyping, product development planning, intellectual property protection, clinical utility demonstrations, safety and efficacy testing including phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, and regulatory planning.
This competition is designed to foster collaboration among SMEs, with at least 50% of total project costs shared by participating SMEs when projects are collaborative. Applicants must ensure all project costs meet the eligibility requirements outlined by Innovate UK, and projects must only commence after approval of the Grant Offer Letter.
For more information, visit GOV.UK.
