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

Funding Amount

The Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund (TRIF) Pilot is a capital grant opportunity that supports large-scale R&D projects in the UK life sciences sector.

Total funding pool: £50 million.

Projects with a total cost (including capital expenditure) of at least £100 million are eligible to apply.

The grant awarded is set at the minimum level necessary to ensure your project proceeds while adhering to UK subsidy regulations—typically ranging from 10-20% of total project costs. For example, a project with a total cost of £100 million would generally receive a grant of £10-20 million.

Eligible Applicants

To be considered eligible, the company must:

• Be a UK-registered business

• Be a wholly private sector business

• Operate as a:

• Product developer

• Contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO)

• Generics manufacturer

The source also states that the company must:

• Provide two years of audited accounts for the applicant company or parent entity, or demonstrate that the remaining project funding has been secured if unavailable

• Show a track record of successfully developing or manufacturing medicines or medical devices, either in the UK or internationally

Eligible Activities

Applications are invited for projects engaged in R&D activities within the following key areas:

Human Medicines

• Including the development and innovation of pharmaceuticals

• Including both active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished drug products intended for human use

Medical Diagnostics

• Projects aimed at advancing tools, systems, or methods for the identification and monitoring of diseases

MedTech Products

• Creation and enhancement of medical devices related to human health

• May involve the design, testing, or improvement of medical devices

Eligible projects should support one or more of the following objectives:

Objective 1: Health Resilience and Innovation Projects should strengthen health resilience and foster innovation by, for example:

• Driving the creation of new or expansion of existing UK R&D capacity

• Supporting innovation in life sciences

• Improving the UK’s ability to respond to emerging healthcare challenges

• Enhancing flexibility in R&D facilities, capabilities and technologies

• Enabling rapid redeployment or scaling during health emergencies

• Investing in areas such as:

• Drug discovery and development

• Medical device design and feasibility

• Preclinical or clinical research

• Enhancing manufacturing processes and production efficiency

• Optimising or accelerating clinical research or product testing

• Deploying new AI or digital research approaches

• Testing or deploying innovative materials or technologies

• Advancing manufacturing

Objective 2: Creating Economic Opportunity Projects should also demonstrate contribution to the UK economy through:

• Substantial contribution to Gross Value Added

• Creation of high-wage, high-skilled jobs

• Generating R&D spillover benefits such as knowledge transfer, productivity gains, and strengthening the innovation ecosystem

Program Deadline

31 March 2028