Medicines and diagnostics manufacturing transformation fund

Overview

Manufacturers can apply for a share of up to £20 million in capital grant funding to manufacture medicines and diagnostic equipment in the UK. The fund is open to private sector manufacturers of:

• human medicines
• medical diagnostics
• medical technologies (MedTech)

The minimum total eligible project cost for applications is £8 million. There is no upper limit on the size of projects.

Scope

BEIS are particularly interested in providing support to projects which create economic opportunities and will manufacture products which contribute to the building of the UK’s health resilience as well as projects which use innovative technologies and approaches to drive up productivity and/or lessen the impact of production on the environment.

The fund will provide capital grant funding for investments related to the manufacture of human medicines, medical diagnostics and MedTech products. The aim of the fund is to increase the manufacture of medicines, medical diagnostics and MedTech products in the UK, creating high value jobs and economic growth.

Eligibility

Manufacturers may apply for the fund if they meet the mandatory criteria:

1. Company type 
During the application process, you will be required to confirm that that you are:
• a private sector business making investments in the UK – as opposed to fully or partly state-owned
• proposing a project that is a single company investment – as opposed to a project using a partnership model between companies or other types of organisations
• a product developer, a contract/development manufacturing organisation or a generics manufacturer

2. Project type
During the application process, you will be asked to confirm that grant funding applied for is only sought for eligible costs. This could include:
• capital equipment which can include the cost of purchase and installation but not the cost of maintenance or those related to staff costs
• costs related to the construction of a new facility or adaptations to an existing facility
• commercial scale manufacturing
• pilot plants

3. Sectorial scope
During the application process you will be asked to confirm that you are either a manufacturer of:
• human medicines – small molecules, biologics (including vaccines) and advanced therapies, but excludes the manufacture blood derived products, veterinary medicines, herbal medicines, nutritional supplements or vitamins
• medical diagnostics – for both disease identification and monitoring in human health
• MedTech – all types of medical devices related to human health

See scheme guidance for additional criteria.

Funding Costs

During the application process you will be asked to confirm that your total eligible costs are no lower than £8m. There is no upper limit on the size of projects that apply into the fund. Companies can submit more than one application, but these must be for clearly distinct investments

Exclusions

The fund is not open to supply chain companies such as:
• manufacturers of input materials used in the production of Medicines, Medical Diagnostics or MedTech products
• equipment suppliers to a Medicines, Medical Diagnostics or MedTech company

The fund also cannot support:

• salaries or consumables
• R&D related to product development
• training costs
• costs associated with the completion of the grant application

During the application process, you will also be asked to confirm that the project cannot viably proceed without public sector support.