Partner with us for Innovate UK's
Smart Grants: January 2021
We work with our community on identifying grants and other funding sources to accelerate their drug discovery projects.
We can help bring your game-changing, innovative and disruptive ideas towards commercialisation.
© Medicines Discovery Catapult 2021. All rights reserved.
Get in touch to discuss your application
We’ll use the data you give us to manage and report on our engagement with you, your organisation, and the wider industry. For more details read our Privacy Policy.
We have connections across industry, academia, finance, government, and research networks
Our experienced team have a wealth of commercial, industrial, and academic grant writing expertise
We can give you supported access to groundbreaking technologies with independent, specialist expertise and advice
There are great reasons to apply with us...
Meet our Grants team
Dr Rachel Lawless, Grants Officer
Rachel gained a MRes and a PhD in musculoskeletal ageing at the University of Liverpool. Following this she took post-doctoral positions identifying the role of microRNAs in muscle and using materials as a treatment for aged-related macular degeneration. During this time, she was also a council member at The Physiological Society. Rachel has wide experience in writing academic grants and since moving to MDC at the beginning of 2020 writes business grants for organisations large and small.
Dr Marc Daigneault, Head of Research Funding
Marc is responsible for business engagement, development and exploitation. He has a strong academic record across a range of disciplines, including infection and immunity, cell signalling, cardiovascular disease and biomaterials. For the past 5 years, Marc has worked as a business development and innovation professional supporting SMEs in raising over £30 million in non-dilutive funding and £150 million in venture capital. At MDC, Marc supports a current portfolio of >30 UK-based SMEs in biopharma with business model development, route to market and exploitation planning.
LUNAC Therapeutics - £3.14 million from the Biomedical Catalyst to develop a next-generation anticoagulant
Redx Pharma - £516k from the Biomedical Catalyst for a biomarker project which aims to accelerate therapeutic development for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Optibrium and Intellegens - funding for a project to address the need for more accessible AI and data in the B2B marketplace – prioritising drug discovery, diagnostics and clinical trials
Read about our grant successes
Organisation: Innovate UK
Opportunity for UK registered organisations to apply for a share of up to £25 million from Innovate UK to deliver disruptive R&D innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy.
Competition opens: Thursday 21 January 2021
Competition closes: Wednesday 26 May 2021
Competition details
Our experienced bids team have a wealth of grant expertise and work with our collaborators to give them the best chance of success
We share in the success of our collaborators and ensure the benefits are felt by the wider community
Cheshire and Warrington - £5 million from the Getting Building Fund for a new Validation Centre of Excellence at Alderley Park
Sixfold Bioscience - Innovate UK Smart Grant funding for a new precision cancer treatment technology
Oncimmune - Funding from Ideas to Address COVID-19 for the development of an Infectious Disease research tool