News story: Medicine and vaccine manufacturing centres: apply for funding

Innovate UK is seeking proposals from UK organisations to set up national centres that will help businesses to develop, commercialise and manufacture new vaccines and medicines.

Up to £66 million in capital funding is available to build and establish a national vaccines development and manufacturing centre. A further £13 million is available towards the setting up of a national medicines manufacturing and innovation centre.

The funding is under the government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to develop first-of-a-kind technologies for the manufacture of medicines.

Vaccines development and manufacturing centre

The UK has strong expertise in researching new vaccines. However, there are gaps in our ability to develop, commercialise and manufacture new vaccines.

Establishing a new national centre will bridge that gap and ensure that the UK is best set up for infectious disease outbreaks. It will also be able to provide expertise and advice to those working in the sector.

It will be an independent, physical centre based in one location, and will have pilot and medium-scale manufacturing capacity. Other centres of national and international importance will link in.

Competition information

  • this competition is open, and the registration deadline is at midday on 15 November 2017
  • up to £66 million is available in capital funding to establish the centre
  • the project can be led by a business, a research and technology organisation, or a not-for-profit company with experience in vaccine development and manufacture. It must include partners from academia and industry
  • the project is expected to last up to 4 years
  • businesses could attract up to 50% of their total project costs

Medicines manufacturing and innovation centre

While the UK has a strong medicines manufacturing sector, with more than 1,300 companies producing £26 billion in exports in 2015, its relative impact has declined in recent years.

The medicines manufacturing and innovation centre aims to reverse that decline by delivering radical improvements in productivity through new small-molecule drug products. The centre will be a focal point for innovation in fine-chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturing and will be able to prove the viability of production methods to relevant standards.

By working with partners across research and manufacturing it will act as a hub around which small and large businesses can base themselves.

Competition information

  • this competition is open, and the deadline for registration is midday 1 November 2017
  • up to £13 million is available towards the total costs of establishing the centre
  • projects must be led by a UK-based research and technology organisation or not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. You must have experience in manufacturing processes producing small-molecule pharmaceuticals or fine chemicals
  • projects must include partners from academia and industry
  • the project is expected to last up to 4 years