Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare

Overview

Innovate UK, on behalf of the Office for Life Sciences, is investing up to £20 million through the Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG) Catalysing Innovation Awards scheme.  

Funding is split across two strands:  

• CR&D industrial research  

• Contracts for Innovation. (this strand)

The aim is to accelerate promising pharmaceutical, MedTech and digital health innovations that improve treatment outcomes, enhance recovery and reduce harm and deaths associated with drug and alcohol addiction.

This strand supports projects progressing towards TRL 6 or 7, demonstrating early efficacy and UK market fit, alongside a clear regulatory and commercial pathway.

Funding is provided as a procurement contract, not a grant.

Scope

Organisations can apply for a share of up to £20 million across two competitions as part of the AHG Catalysing Innovation Awards scheme.

The funding supports the development of pharmaceutical, MedTech and digital treatments for drug and alcohol addiction recovery and harm prevention.

This funding is from the Office of Life Sciences (OLS).

The aim of this competition is to support progress towards technology and market readiness, and regulatory approvals of promising innovative pharmaceutical, MedTech and digital interventions.

Funding is targeted at support for development of innovations with the potential to demonstrate initial efficacy and UK market fit by the end of the project through achieving:

• Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or 7

• established user acceptability and fit in relevant UK settings

• a completed business plan and clear pathway for securing relevant Intellectual Property (IP), regulatory and certification requirements

Projects must:

• address illicit drug or alcohol use

• focus on improving treatment outcomes, enhancing recovery and reducing harm and deaths in drug and alcohol addiction

• be either a pharmaceutical, digital health, or MedTech solution for the treatment recovery, or harm and overdose prevention for drug or alcohol addictions

• achieve a Technology Readiness Level of 6 or preferably Level 7 at the end of your project

• establish and evidence user acceptability with people with lived experience

• have co-developed project plans with the input of relevant treatment or service providers in those settings in which the intervention will be tested

• engage with statutory bodies, where relevant, to identify a pathway to secure regulatory approvals, certification and assessments or to progress along an appropriate existing pathway

• complete a comprehensive business model or plan

• include the design features of your solutions and how it will be applied if your proposal is technological

• describe how ongoing collaborations between all members of the project team will develop

It is recommended that projects, where appropriate:

• be designed in consultation with people with lived experience of addictions

• be designed in discussion with relevant treatment or service providers

• account for complex needs of individuals who are the target of the intervention, for example, mental health, housing, criminal justice

• demonstrate alignment to delivery of relevant UK Government missions and strategies

Substances in scope of this competition include those treated in typical services including:

• opioids (illicit and prescription)

• stimulants: cocaine, crack, amphetamine, and methamphetamine

• cannabis

• GHB

• ketamine

• benzodiazepines

• gabapentinoids

Key themes and topics

Your project must focus on:

• the application of digital, MedTech or pharmaceutical solutions

• improving healthcare outcomes for individuals with illicit drug or alcohol addictions, or both

• improving treatment, recovery, or prevention of harm and death for individuals with these addictions

• solutions which plan to gain regulatory approval, necessary assessment and certification where appropriate

• developing plans for UK adoption and roll-out

Strong applications for funding will demonstrate how the research aligns with:

• the top ten priority questions for addiction research identified by the James Lind Alliance priority-setting partnership

• the aims of Addiction Healthcare Goals

• the aims of the UK Government’s 10 year drug strategy, From Harm to Hope and equivalent drug and alcohol strategies across the devolved UK nations

• delivering the UK Government’s core Plan for Change missions, especially; ‘building an NHS fit for the future’ (health) and ‘kickstart economic growth’ (growth)

Project duration

Projects must:

• start on 1 October 2026

• end by 30 September 2028

• last up to 24 months

Award value

Projects must have expected total eligible costs of between £200,000 and £1.5 million inclusive of VAT, per project, but justifiable eligible costs outside of this range will also be considered  

Funding rates

100% funded

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be led by an organisation of any size

• Contracts will be awarded to a single entity only

• Subcontractors can be used for specialist skills and can be businesses, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector(charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

• You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs

• If you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £100,000

• If you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and your total project costs must not exceed £100,000

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service