To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered:

• business of any size
• research and technology organisation (RTO)
• catapult centre
• not for profit organisation
• public sector organisation
• charity

The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.

If the lead organisation is an RTO it must collaborate with two businesses (one SME, and one business of any size).

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)
• catapult centre

An eligible organisation can lead on no more than two applications. Any further applications by the same organisation as lead will be made ineligible.

If not leading, an eligible organisation can collaborate in any number of applications.

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request of between £500,000 and £1 million
• last between 9 and 12 months
• start by 1 April 2027
• end by 31 March 2028

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

No single organisation in the consortium can claim more than 70% of the total project costs.

The grant funding can usually cover up to 70% of the total costs, depending on business size and project type; the maximum will be less for larger businesses or projects which are closer to market.

The aim of this competition is to drive innovation in sustainable medicines manufacturing across three key pillars:

• green chemistry
• circularity
• productivity and resource efficiency

You must also consider both critical enablers; regulations and measurements, standards and data.

Proposals must include sustainability claims that are evidenced through baseline measurements and clearly defined metrics to quantify anticipated improvements.

These new manufacturing innovations are expected to support more environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes with significant and measurable improvements in at least one of the following areas:

• productivity
• waste reduction
• emissions reduction
• energy use reduction
• resource efficiency

Funding must be used to invest in innovation to deliver across four key goals:

• drive disruptive and novel technologies or processes in medicines manufacturing to optimise production efficiency, minimise waste and reduce emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals
• facilitate the effective implementation of innovative solutions and promote their adoption across the medicines manufacturing sector, ensuring scalability and widespread utilisation
• enhance the UK’s attractiveness as a prime location for investment in medicines manufacturing, thereby stimulating economic growth and enhancing resilience in the sector
• strengthen the UK’s manufacturing innovation ecosystem through collaborative partnerships between academia, industry, and government entities, promoting knowledge exchange and collaborative initiatives to enhance sustainable manufacturing practices

Your project must also consider how to overcome any regulatory barriers to adoption of your innovation, alongside approaches to capture data that support the measurement and reporting of sustainability indicators aligned with industry standards.

Your project must involve technologies that are already at Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 6 or above and advance them by a minimum of two TRL levels, progressing towards deployment within a manufacturing environment.

Your proposal must show how your project will improve the productivity, competitiveness and growth for at least one UK micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) involved in the project.

You must be able to articulate your commercialisation plans and how this grant will support your journey to driving adoption.

We welcome proposals from collaborations across different sectors.

Your project must address both critical enablers and focus on at least one of the following pillars:

Pillar 1. Green chemistry

For example:

• biocatalysis, new chemocatalysis
• flow chemistry
• solvent free systems
• sustainable solvents
• biomanufacturing for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), plastics and biopolymers
• technology switches away from solid phase synthesis

This is not an exhaustive list.

Pillar 2. Circularity

For example:

• recycle and reuse of materials, for example, solvents, water, plastics, packaging
• identify materials with potential for circularity

This is not an exhaustive list.

Pillar 3. Productivity and resource efficiency

For example:

• continuous processing​
• process intensification
• digital processing, digitalisation, automation or robotics.
• utilise shared data to enable use of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• analyse waste in the supply chain
• streamline development processes​
• reduction of energy use
• increasing yield, productivity and efficiencies

The lists above are not exhaustive.

Skills and training can be considered alongside any of the three pillars.

Enabler 1. Regulations

Your project must identify regulatory challenges and propose solutions.

Enabler 2. Measurements, data and standards

Your project can align with emerging approaches, for example:

• life cycle analysis (LCA)
• carbon footprint reporting
• demonstrating efficiency in resource efficiency and reduced emissions

This is not an exhaustive list and proposals do not have to be restricted to these.

We encourage proposals that align with national innovation and policy priorities, such as those set out in:

• the Life Sciences Sector Plan
• Greener NHS
• Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan

We are not funding projects that:

• do not fit the scope or eligibility of this competition
• are non-human medicines manufacturing
• are medical device manufacturing
• are infrastructure and facility design without appropriate demonstration

Innovate UK will hold an online briefing event at 3pm on Tuesday 13 October: click here for the joining link (Zoom required). A recording and slides will be available afterwards.

If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Health team.