Innovate UK is offering grants of up to £1.5 million to UK SMEs developing digital, automated and robotic technologies that improve the speed and efficiency of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.
Closing on 27 May 2026, Medicines Manufacturing: Labs of the Future will support projects that contribute to the government’s Labs of the Future vision. This is the transition of traditional pharmaceutical laboratories into highly efficient, intelligent, data-driven environments.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead a project, you must be a UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). SMEs can apply as a sole applicant or lead a collaborative project, involving multiple organisations.
The following types of UK-registered organisations can join a project as collaborators but can’t lead the application:
- Academic institutions
- Businesses of any size
- Catapults
- Charities
- Not-for-profit organisations
- Public sector organisations
- Research and technology organisations (RTOs)
No single partner can account for more than 70% of the total eligible project costs. An SME can only lead one application, but can be included as a collaborator on any number of others.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Request between £500,000 and £1.5 million in grant funding
- Start by 1 October 2026
- Run for between 9 and 24 months
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must:
- Commit to upskilling and reskilling the workforce involved in the innovation
- Demonstrate how the innovation will integrate with or across existing digital, automation and data systems
- Develop or align with relevant data standards, ontologies and interoperability frameworks
- Develop technologies and solutions that contribute to an integrated and intelligent Lab of the Future for medicines development and manufacturing
- Have a starting Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of at least 4 and progress to TRL 6 or higher, with a realistic demonstrator that validates the technology in representative conditions
- Identify and embed regulatory requirements into the design from the outset
- Include expected success metrics and highlight value creation, with improvements in productivity, cost, quality or speed
- Scale or adapt the innovation across multiple medicine modalities and workflows, where relevant
Innovate UK won’t fund projects that:
- Are focused on medicine discovery
- Don’t link to human medicines development and manufacturing
- Have a primary output of a specific new medicine, rather than a technology enabling the manufacturing workflow
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation’s type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Individual grants range from £500,000 to £1.5 million.
Applying as a Company
If you’re applying as a company, how much of your qualifying costs are covered by your grant depends on your size and what kind of project you’re looking to undertake.
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Research* | 70% | 60% | 50% |
| Experimental Development** | 45% | 35% | 25% |
*Industrial research refers to planned research aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing new products, processes, or services.
**Experimental development is closer to market. It involves using existing knowledge to develop or improve products, processes, or services.
Funding Example
A small company undertaking an industrial research project with £1 million in eligible costs can apply for up to £700,000 in grant funding. You will need to fund the remaining £300,000 from other sources, such as R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Non-economic organisations can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you are a charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation, research organisation, or RTO
- Up to 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you’re a Je-S-registered institution, like a university
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 27 May 2026. Applications are submitted via Innovate UK’s Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
1. Project Details (not scored)
This section provides context for your application. You’ll need to cover:
- A project summary
- A public description (which may be published if you’re awarded funding)
- A scope statement explaining how your project fits the competition
- Project title, start date and duration
- Research category
- Your application team
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
2. Application Questions
There are 17 questions in total:
- 7 unscored administrative questions covering topics like animal testing, international collaboration and workforce development
- 10 scored questions covering your business need, technical approach, team, market, route to market, impacts, project management, risks, value for money, and the case for public funding
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the approach, team, project management, and risk questions.
3. Finances (not scored)
Each organisation must complete their own costs, organisation details and funding information in the IFS portal. Academic institutions must also submit a Je-S form.
4. Project Impact (not scored)
Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before the application can be submitted.
If you’re successful, you’ll be notified by 22 July 2026. Applications that pass the initial assessment may be invited to an interview between 13 and 17 July 2026.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a ‘portfolio approach’ by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won’t necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
Let’s Get You Funded
GrantTree has 15 years’ experience helping innovative UK businesses win Innovate UK funding, and we can dramatically increase your chances of success.
Whether you need a full application written from scratch, detailed feedback from an active Innovate UK assessor, or targeted coaching and grant matching, we have a service to suit your budget and timeline.
To find out how we can help, just get in touch.
