In this monthly column Grant Aid intends to bring you news of lesser know grants that will enable you to grow bigger, better and faster! The grant details may be obtained from the official grant websites listed but additional insight is on its website at www.grantaid.com. There too you can obtain news covering the full spectrum of business grants and subscribe to its newsletter.

The 4th round of this joint £180m Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council programme will open on the 29th of July.

The scheme offers funding to innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academics looking to work either individually or in collaboration to develop solutions to healthcare challenges.

The Biomedical Catalyst will accept innovative ideas from any sector or discipline that demonstrate the potential to provide significant positive healthcare and economic impact.
Three categories of grant are available:

Feasibility award:

This grant enables the exploration and evaluation of the commercial potential of an early-stage scientific idea, through:

• review of research evidence and identification of application; assessment of business opportunity; investigation of intellectual property position; experimental studies to validate initial concepts or existing pre-clinical work; scoping for further development.
• Duration < 12months, max grant £150k, SMEs 75% of total eligible costs

Early-stage award

his grant is to evaluate the technical feasibility of an idea and establish proof of concept in a model system, through:

• experimental evaluation (lab-scale) ;initial demonstration using in vitro and in vivo models (not human trials); exploration of potential production mechanisms ;early-stage prototyping; product development planning; intellectual property protection.
• Duration <3 years, max grant £2.4m, SMEs 60% of total eligible costs

Late-stage award.

This grant takes a well-developed concept and demonstrates its effectiveness in a relevant environment through:

• initial human proof-of-concept studies; demonstration of clinical utility and effectiveness; demonstration of safety and efficacy (including phase I and II clinical trials); development of production mechanisms; prototyping; market testing; intellectual property protection'
• Duration <3 years, max grant £2.4m, SMEs 60% of total eligible costs.

Any UK SME or academic undertaking research and development, either individually or in collaboration, may apply; applications are accepted on a rolling basis for assessment by independent experts.

The key point is that this is a rare example of a bottom up grant where the applicant defines the medical areas to be attacked rather than having the subject matter strictly defined by the grantor-resulting in great scope but also, if previouse rounds are anything to go by, very very competitive!!

More information will be on our website as it becomes available but if you have a project in mind contact us at www.grantaid.com. We have extensive life science experience and can really increase your chances of success, usually on a no win no fee basis

There will eventually be more information at www.innovateuk.org under the competitions section.

For further advice please do not hesitate to contact us on www.grantaid.com.