Supporting innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare challenges

The Addiction Healthcare Goals, led by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), is aiming to make the UK a globally leading location for industry and researchers to partner with NHS and third-sector treatment providers to develop, trial and deploy innovative drug and alcohol addiction treatments and healthcare technologies to transform care and save lives.

To accelerate progress, OLS has launched the £20 million Addiction Healthcare Goals – Catalysing Innovation Awards, delivered by Innovate UK, to fast-track the development of innovative pharmaceutical, MedTech and digital technologies for tackling drug and alcohol addiction healthcare challenges.

Cutting-edge medicines and healthcare technologies including wearables, virtual reality (VR), treatment apps, and devices powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can secure government funding through this competition. Rolling out these innovations to services will improve treatment and enhance recovery for people with problematic drug and alcohol use, reducing harm, saving lives and benefiting society.

These awards, as part of the wider Addiction Healthcare Goals programme, will help deliver government objectives in the 10 Year Health Plan, the Life Sciences Sector Plan and the UK‘s 10-year drugs plan, From Harm to Hope, and government missions for driving health, growth and safer streets, from the Plan for Change.

A national challenge with a UK innovation opportunity

Drug and alcohol addiction remains one of the UK’s most serious public health challenges with around 15,000 lives lost each year and the economic cost in England alone exceeding £47 billion annually.

While the impacts are substantial, the UK has world-leading strengths in life sciences, data, digital health and clinical research. This presents a major opportunity for innovators to bring forward solutions that can be rapidly tested, evaluated and adopted within UK health and care systems.

Thousands of lives could be saved, and hundreds of thousands improved, by innovations that move from development into real-world use through this programme.

This initiative reflects a shared ambition between OLS and Innovate UK to ensure that promising innovations are supported through evaluation, regulatory approval and adoption, strengthening the UK’s position as a world leading environment for addiction healthcare innovation.

Driving real-world impact

Through two strands of support, the Addiction Healthcare Goals – Catalysing Innovation Awards will advance promising technologies to be ready for market rollout and impact, while in parallel fostering the development of future technologies by early-stage companies and researchers in the UK.

Opening on 16 February, the competition features two strands to support innovations at different stages:

The Advancing innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare strand is focused on innovations capable of demonstrating proof of real‑world efficacy and strong UK market readiness by the end of the project.

Projects are expected to achieve Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 8 or 9, with necessary regulatory approvals and certification either secured or actively in progress. Projects will also need to complete a full market‑readiness analysis, alongside demonstrating clear plans for manufacturing and UK rollout.

The Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol strand is targeted at innovations with the potential to demonstrate initial efficacy and UK market fit by the end of the project. This includes projects reaching TRL 6 or 7 and demonstrating user acceptability and suitability within relevant UK settings. Projects will also need to create a completed business plan with a clear pathway towards intellectual property protection, regulatory approval and certification.

Built-in regulatory and system readiness support

Successful applicants will be offered exclusive access to a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) hosted education session ahead of project initiation. Attendees will learn about evidence requirements, stakeholder engagement, and key success factors to prepare for UK market readiness and reimbursement, ensuring greater understanding of how to navigate regulatory and evaluation processes.

Embedding this support early aims to increase the likelihood that innovations can be adopted efficiently and effectively, delivering real benefits for patients, services and communities.

Building on proven success

The Addiction Healthcare Goals programme has already stimulated UK based research and development through earlier funding rounds supporting early to mid-stage innovation, through partnerships with the Scottish Government and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Through the £5 million Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge, 12 innovations were funded across the UK including wearables and sensor technology, novel antidote formulations, and AI enabled applications and tools. These innovations are helping to improve detection of, response to, and intervention in potentially fatal drug overdoses, to prevent deaths.

The £10 million Addiction Healthcare Goals: Innovation for Treatment and Recovery i4i awards (AMI) was launched to support the creation of innovative medicines and technologies to help treat people with opioid or cocaine addictions and aid in their recovery. Four projects were awarded funding to develop innovative approaches including VR-therapy for cocaine dependence, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, contingency management for switching opioid substitution therapies and app-supported prison release care.

This new Innovate UK-delivered competition builds on that foundation by expanding eligibility to innovative healthcare technologies to target all illicit drugs and alcohol addictions. Crucially this funding is also shifting the focus to late-stage development and deployment, accelerating the journey from innovation to public benefit and ensuring that effective solutions reach the people and services that need them most.

Applicant support

An online briefing event on 19 February will guide organisations through eligibility, scope and the application process.

Support is also available from Innovate UK Business Connect which works alongside Innovate UK to help organisations strengthen their applications and develop strong project partnerships. It can advise on competition scope and fit, help build consortia, and connect innovators with partners from industry, academia, the NHS and the third sector.