GrantRadar

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Office for Life Sciences)

Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund (TRIF) Pilot

Capital grants from the Office for Life Sciences for large-scale life sciences R&D investments in the UK, in human medicines, medical diagnostics and MedTech, that strengthen health resilience, drive innovation and create economic benefit. Only single-company projects with total costs of at least £100m can apply; the grant is set at the minimum needed for the project to proceed, typically 10-20% of total project costs, and awards are capped at £25m. Applications are taken on a rolling basis until 31 March 2028 or until the £50m pilot fund is allocated.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£5,000,000 – £25,000,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • UK-registered, wholly private sector businesses operating as a product developer, contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) or generics manufacturer, with a track record of successfully developing or manufacturing medicines or medical devices in the UK or internationally
  • Applicants must provide two years of audited accounts for the company or parent entity, or otherwise show that the rest of the project funding is secured
  • The project must be located in the UK, be primarily a capital investment, be a single company investment, have a total cost of at least £100m, and depend on the grant to proceed (without it, it would not happen, would be delayed by three years or more, scaled down or relocated overseas)
  • Awards follow the Industrial Development Act 1982 and subsidy control rules; Northern Ireland projects in scope of the Windsor Framework fall under EU State aid rules

What it funds

Large-scale, primarily capital R&D investments in the UK in these focus areas:

  • Human medicines: development and innovation of pharmaceuticals, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished drug products for human use
  • Medical diagnostics: tools, systems or methods for identifying and monitoring disease
  • MedTech products: design, testing or improvement of medical devices related to human health
  • Projects that create new or expand existing UK R&D capacity, e.g. drug discovery and development, medical device design and feasibility, preclinical or clinical research, manufacturing process improvements
  • Projects that make R&D facilities, capabilities and technologies more flexible so they can be redeployed or scaled in health emergencies, e.g. optimising clinical research or product testing, AI or digital research approaches, innovative materials or technologies

Projects must also show economic benefit: contribution to GVA, high-wage high-skilled jobs and R&D spillover benefits.

What it will not fund

  • Veterinary medicines
  • Herbal medicines
  • Nutritional supplements or vitamins
  • Raw ingredients (e.g. solvents, buffers and cleaning agents)
  • Production of single-use consumables not integrated into a larger product (e.g. syringes made independently from diagnostic kits)
  • Secondary packaging (e.g. package inserts, labelling and boxes)
  • Partnerships between companies or other organisations (single company investments only)
  • Projects that would go ahead anyway without the grant

How to apply

  1. Submit an Expression of Interest through the online form on the Find a Grant page
  2. If you meet the eligibility criteria you will be emailed, and a guidance session may be arranged
  3. Submit Application Form 1 (the formal EOI), describing the project's innovation and health resilience benefits; assessed by cross-government officials
  4. Give a 10-minute presentation and Q&A at an interview with a panel of independent experts (held monthly)
  5. If successful, complete Application Form 2 (eligibility, company and project details, financial information, markets, economic impacts and risks) with supporting financial documentation
  6. Due diligence on value for money, subsidy control, the no-grant scenario, deliverability, jobs and financing

DSIT may offer less than the amount requested. Questions to TRIF@officeforlifesciences.gov.uk.

Have ready

  • Expression of Interest form
  • Application Form 1
  • Application Form 2
  • Two years of audited accounts for the applicant company or parent entity (or evidence the remaining project funding is secured)

Further documentation on financial position, eligibility and project viability is requested at Application Form 2 and due diligence.

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