Innovate UK (UKRI), with the Department of Health and Social Care

Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D Round 2

Innovate UK collaborative R&D grants, with the Department of Health and Social Care, for projects that make human medicines manufacturing more sustainable through green chemistry, circularity, or productivity and resource efficiency, while also tackling regulatory barriers and measurement, data and standards. Projects must take a technology already at TRL 6 or above up at least two levels and show measurable gains such as reduced waste, emissions or energy use. A UK business, RTO, Catapult, not-for-profit, public sector body or charity can lead, but the consortium must include a UK SME and academics cannot lead. Each project requests £500,000 to £1 million in grant over 9 to 12 months, and Innovate UK estimates a 15% success rate.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £500,000 – £1,000,000
Deadline: 45 days left; 2 December
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

The lead must be a UK-registered business of any size, research and technology organisation (RTO), Catapult, not-for-profit, public sector body or charity; academic institutions cannot lead but can be partners
Projects must be collaborative: the consortium must include at least one UK-registered micro, small or medium enterprise, the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding, and no single organisation can claim more than 70% of total project costs
If the lead is an RTO it must work with two businesses, one an SME and one of any size
An organisation can lead no more than two applications but can be a partner on any number
Non-funded partners from the UK, EU or elsewhere may take part
Work must be carried out in the UK, results exploited in the UK and most funding spent in the UK; overseas subcontractors need a detailed justification
Projects must request £500,000 to £1 million in total grant, last 9 to 12 months, start on the first of a month by 1 April 2027 and end by 31 March 2028 (out-of-limit projects need email approval at least 10 working days before close)
Organisations in financial difficulty, with overdue accountant reports, past grant breaches or failure to exploit earlier projects are ineligible, and sanctions and animal research rules apply

What it funds

Collaborative projects that improve the sustainability of human medicines manufacturing, addressing at least one of three pillars:

Green chemistry (for example biocatalysis, flow chemistry, sustainable solvents)
Circularity (for example recycling and reuse of solvents, water, plastics and packaging)
Productivity and resource efficiency (for example continuous processing, automation, AI and machine learning using shared data, energy reduction)
Both enablers: regulations (identifying regulatory challenges and proposing solutions) and measurements, data and standards (for example life cycle analysis and carbon footprint reporting)
Technologies at TRL 6 or above advancing by at least two levels, with measurable improvement in productivity, waste reduction, emissions reduction, energy use reduction or resource efficiency, evidenced with baseline measurements and defined metrics
Industrial research (up to 70% of eligible costs for micro or small, 60% medium, 50% large organisations) and experimental development (up to 45%, 35%, 25%)

projects must benefit at least one UK SME in the consortium and consider commercial readiness levels. Research organisations doing non-economic activity can share up to 30% of total eligible costs, claiming up to 100% (RTOs, charities, not-for-profits, public sector) or 80% FEC (academics).

What it will not fund

Projects outside the competition's scope or eligibility
Non-human medicines manufacturing
Medical device manufacturing
Infrastructure or facility design without appropriate demonstration
Subsidies dependent on export performance or on domestic input usage
Previously submitted work, or activity that is or has been funded (projects can build on earlier work with clearly new activity)

How to apply

Read the Innovate UK guidance on applying through the Innovation Funding Service and the competition brief; the 13 October 2026 briefing recording and slides are on the competition page
Start a new application from the Find a Grant listing or the Innovation Funding Service and invite partners
Complete the project details section: title, dates, research category, 400-word project summary, 400-word public description and 400-word scope statement
Answer the 18 application questions (questions 8 to 17 are scored, covering need, approach and innovation, team, market, outcomes, wider impacts, project management, risks, added value and value for money; question 18 on funding plans is used for financial viability)
Each organisation completes its own finances, and each partner completes the Project Impact questions and accepts the terms
Submit by 11am UK time on 2 December 2026 (you can reopen and resubmit before the deadline)
If shortlisted (invitations 15 January 2027), attend an interview from 25 to 29 January 2027 with up to five people: a presentation of up to 20 minutes and 20 slides followed by 30 minutes of questions, with an optional two-page written response to assessor feedback

URLs in answers are not opened. Contact Innovate UK at least 15 working days before the close if you need support or reasonable adjustments.

Have ready

Appendix for question 9 (approach and innovation)
Appendix for question 10 (team and resources)
Gantt chart for question 14 (project management)
Risk register for question 15 (risks)

appendices must be PDFs of up to two A4 pages and 10MB, legible at 100% zoom. Shortlisted applicants also prepare an interview presentation in PowerPoint.

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