Biomedical Catalyst 2019 round 1: feasibility and primer awards

Overview

The aim of the Biomedical Catalyst is to support the development of innovative healthcare products, technologies and processes. These can include (but are not limited to):

• 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

Scope

The aim of this competition is to explore and evaluate the commercial potential of an innovative scientific idea or carry out a technical evaluation through to proof of concept in a model system by:

• reviewing research evidence and identifying possible applications
• assessing business opportunities
• assessing and/or protecting intellectual property
• validating initial concepts and existing pre-clinical work through experimental studies
• initial demonstration using in-vitro and in-vivo models (but not human clinical trials such as safety and efficacy)
• early stage prototyping
• preliminary regulatory advice

Your project must focus on the development of a product or process that is an innovative solution to a health and care challenge.

Support is available for any life science sector or discipline, including (but not limited to):

• medical technologies and devices
• stratified healthcare
• advanced therapies (gene and cell therapies)
• digital health
• drug discovery
• diagnostics

Eligibility

To lead a project or work alone you must:

• be a UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• be an organisation focused on life science
• carry out your project in the UK

You can work alone or in partnership with others (SMEs, academics or research organisations).

The lead must claim funding.

To be a collaborator you must:

• be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
• carry out your project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Funding Costs

Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £50,000 and £1 million.

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small business
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business

The research organisations in your consortium can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them.

Your project must start by 1 September 2019 and end by 31 March 2021. It can last between 3 and 18 months.

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects as part of this competition that:

• are in scope for the Biomedical Catalyst early stage or late stage awards
• include human clinical trials, such as safety and efficacy or first in person