Biomedical Catalyst
Our vision is to build a network of innovative, commercially viable life science businesses that transform healthcare and patients’ lives and drive business growth.
Transforming innovative ideas into commercially viable businesses
Innovate UK will drive transformational change in food production, wellness, early detection and treatment of disease to underpin population health and economic growth in the UK.
Through our flagship grant funding mechanism, Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, we help small and medium sized businesses test and develop innovative health and care solutions across life sciences, including therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health.
Biomedical Catalyst Round 1 now open
Biomedical Catalyst 2024 Round 1: Industry-led R&D is now open for applications, with up to £15 million to develop innovative solutions to health, and healthcare, challenges. Projects must be SME-led.
Apply for Biomedical Catalyst 2024 Round 1 (closing 16 Oct 2024)
Supporting Economic Success in Health and Life Sciences
The Biomedical Catalyst is Innovate UK’s flagship grant funding mechanism, enabling small and medium sized businesses to test and develop innovative health and care solutions across life sciences, including therapeutics, medical devices and digital health.
How we support
We recognise that grant funding alone is not enough, and projects need to be supported as an ecosystem to be able to easily access the partners needed on their innovation journey such as regulators, accelerators, supply chain, systems-based design, global markets and investors. Learn how the Innovate UK system can each uniquely help you achieve your innovation goals.
- Innovate UK Business Connect: Connecting innovators with new partners and new opportunities beyond their existing thinking – accelerating ambitious ideas into real-world solutions. If you want help to find a project partner or would like someone to review your application before submission, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.
- Innovate UK Business Growth: Bespoke advice and support to help grow & scale innovative businesses. If you’re looking for intensive support with your growth strategy, including exploiting innovation, securing funding & finance and entering new markets, please contact Innovate UK Business Growth.
The Biomedical Catalyst supports small and medium sized businesses, of all stages, to:
- Get your project to market quicker
- De-risk your early stage innovations and projects, and lower risk for investors
- Bring in private capital alongside grants for projects
Biomedical Catalyst is technology agnostic; we want to fund a variety of projects across different markets, technologies, strands and themes.
How it works
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Biomedical Catalyst is technology agnostic, we want to fund a variety of projects across different markets, technologies, strands and themes including:
Medicines & Pharmaceuticals
- Innovative drug discovery and delivery
- Therapeutic and medicine development
- Advanced therapies
Health Technology
- Diagnostics
- Imaging
- Medical technology and devices
- Sensors
- Robotics
Digital Health Technology
- Data driven health
- AI in health
- Independent living and wellbeing
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Opportunity to gain financial support for market and technology feasibility studies
Innovate UK, in partnership with Medical Research Council, will support the development of early-stage health and life science businesses in the UK by funding a series of business accelerators in thematic areas. These accelerators will recruit spinouts, start-ups, and entrepreneurial minded academics to test their ideas and develop concepts with support from key stakeholders from relevant ecosystems.
We want accelerators to support organisations with the potential to enable fair, impartial and sustainable forms of community participation in research across the UK.
Over a set period of time, through online and in-person workshops, you will:
- Receive advise and support including scientific, commercial, regulatory and investment expertise
- Receive a package of training that instils the fundamentals of commercialisation and entrepreneurship
At the end of the accelerator you will/should be in a position to seek investment, or feasibility grant funding of £100k-£150k at 100% via a closed competition.
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Transformational grant funding for industry-led innovation projects
Designed to provide support for pre-market R&D projects aimed at developing innovative solutions to address challenges in health and healthcare.
Projects should demonstrate both commercial and technical feasibility through existing evidence, and show how the project will enhance the competitiveness and productivity of at least one participating UK SME. We will fund industrial research projects and experimental development projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.
Key features:
- Project costs £150k-£4m
- Grant up for £2m
- Up to 70% grant support for SMEs
- Project duration 6-36 months
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De-risking innovative technologies by aligning public grant and private enterprise investment
The Innovate UK Investor Partnerships Programme is a three-year initiative to boost Future Economy-focused SMEs through aligning grant funding for R&D development with investment from partnerships with credible investor partners.
Our Experts
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Related Case Studies
A remote monitoring service for cancer patients that restores quality of life
How Biomedical Catalyst funding enabled Entia to prioritise its work in oncology and conduct vital feasibility studies.
Learning from nature to identify new antibody-like proteins to treat complex autoimmune diseases
Grant funding of over £686,000 has supported Elasmogen in testing the efficacy of soloMERs in treating conditions like inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.
Screening technology that seeks out new targets to drug the “undruggable”
PhoreMost has accessed over £1.7 million in grant funding from the Biomedical Catalyst and Innovate UK.
Related News
29/08/2024
Support available to develop innovative early-stage healthcare projects
Two new Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) accelerators, funded in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, will launch in September. The BMC accelerators will focus on two key themes: femtech and artificial intelligence (AI) in health, each with their own programme of support. Each theme will have a stream for businesses, and another specifically developed for academics.
Read more
22/08/2024
Biomedical Catalyst funding to boost healthcare innovation
Thirty projects are to receive a share of £17.8 million funding from Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst. This will bring them a step closer to translating their ideas into products and therapies for patients, and commercialisation.
Read more
24/07/2024
£3.2m funding awarded to advance early-stage healthcare innovation
Thirty-three companies, which took part in Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst pilot accelerators, have been awarded funding to further develop their innovative projects.
Read more
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