Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute: Phase 1

Overview

Innovate UK will invest up to £500,000 in phase 1 projects to establish the foundations for the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI).

The MMDI is intended to become a trusted, secure and federated national data hub that enables organisations across medicines development and manufacturing to capture, share and use data securely.

Phase 1 provides seed funding for organisations to build a strong consortium and develop a robust proposal for the larger phase 2 programme. The longer-term ambition is to improve data sharing and collaboration across medicines manufacturing, helping to increase productivity and manufacturing efficiency, reduce development timelines and experimental waste, and speed up the delivery of new medicines to patients.

This competition is split into two phases:

• Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute: Phase 1 (this phase)
• Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute: Phase 2, MMDI Delivery

Only successful phase 1 applicants will be invited to apply for phase 2. Phase 2 is expected to provide a large-scale collaborative R&D award of up to £5 million to establish the MMDI.

Scope

The aim of this phase 1 competition is to provide seed funding to establish a consortium and prepare a case for an award in phase 2 to establish the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI).

Phase 1 and phase 2 proposals must align with relevant UK government priorities for growth, productivity and innovation, demonstrating how they support the ambitions of the UK Industrial Strategy, the Life Sciences Sector Plan and wider UK priorities.

Proposals must clearly articulate the strategic value of the MMDI to the UK medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem, including its potential to strengthen UK capability, innovation, productivity, investment and resilience, and deliver tangible economic and sector benefits.

Projects must use phase 1 funding to support the collaborative development of a high-quality application for phase 2.

The long-term vision is for an institute that:

• is delivered by an organisation providing trusted, neutral leadership with the capability, governance and long-term commitment to operate and maintain the MMDI beyond the funding period
• enables collective action on shared challenges through trusted collaboration
• is inclusive and supports organisations of all sizes across the medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem to contribute or access relevant data
• is designed for scale, demonstrating value through targeted proof-of-concept use cases in phase 2 while building a pipeline of industry-relevant applications
• leverages existing capabilities by aligning with relevant data architectures, standards, platforms and initiatives
• delivers tangible technical value through a clearly defined access and operating model
• drives adoption through a credible commercialisation and adoption strategy
• achieves commercial and financial sustainability beyond the funding period
• enables regulatory acceptance of digital and AI-enabled approaches
• acts as a catalyst for the adoption of common standards and frameworks
• builds trust in data-driven approaches through evidence, standards and best practice

Key themes and topics

Eligible phase 1 activities include, but are not limited to:

• building a strong consortium to successfully deliver MMDI phase 2
• hosting workshops, engagement events and consultation activities
• convening stakeholders and facilitating collaboration across the sector to assess needs, challenges and opportunities for value creation
• engaging relevant communities, industry participants, regulators and other stakeholders
• identifying, validating and prioritising proof-of-concept use cases that demonstrate sector value
• scoping and assessing potential data host organisations, including their capabilities and suitability
• exploring data sharing and access to identify the legal, technical and governance requirements for effective and sustainable data use
• producing reports, evidence and recommendations to inform the phase 2 proposal
• exploring relevant national and international initiatives and capturing lessons learned
• identifying opportunities to use existing data assets, standards, platforms and infrastructure
• developing options for long-term commercial and financial sustainability
• collaboratively developing and preparing the phase 2 application

Phase 1 projects must deliver:

• a blueprint covering the MMDI's proposed vision, objectives, governance model, federated data architecture, operating model, implementation approach and delivery roadmap
• a committed delivery consortium
• a landscape and options assessment covering relevant UK and international data initiatives, demonstrators, governance models, standards and infrastructure
• a prioritised use case and implementation plan demonstrating industry need, market pull, expected sector benefits and suitability for a phase 2 demonstrator
• an initial data governance, trust and interoperability framework
• a business model and value proposition
• an initial roadmap for scale and adoption

Applicants must propose an initial use case. This can address a need across multiple modalities or focus on a specific modality. It must be supported by evidence of industry need, market pull, expected benefits and potential for wider adoption.

The proposed use case must also have the potential to scale to additional applications over time and strengthen the UK's competitive position in medicines development and manufacturing.

Projects will not be funded in phase 1 if they:

• involve constructing, refurbishing or operating physical building infrastructure
• involve medicines discovery or non-human medicine data
• include use cases unrelated to medicines development and manufacturing
• do not clearly contribute to a future phase 2 proposal
• primarily focus on networking, engagement or community building without a defined phase 2 ambition and delivery plan
• focus on laboratory-based experimental research or development
• solely generate new experimental data through wet-lab activities
• involve procuring or implementing commercial IT or data management systems
• primarily benefit a single organisation rather than the wider medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem
• are led by an organisation that cannot demonstrate experience of convening multi-stakeholder consortia and engaging key medicines development and manufacturing stakeholders

Projects also cannot involve primary production in fisheries, aquaculture or agriculture, fall outside MFA or applicable de minimis rules, or depend on export performance or domestic-input usage.

Project duration

3 to 6 months

Must not start before 1 January 2027

End by 30 June 2027

Award value

Grant funding request between £50,000 and £100,000

Funding rates

Projects can receive up to 100% of eligible project costs.

Applicants must apply for 100% funding, with total project costs between £50,000 and £100,000.

Eligibility criteria

• Projects can be led by a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, research and technology organisation, charity, not for profit, or public sector organisation
• Projects do not have to be collaborative
• Collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; a charity; a not for profit; a public sector organisation; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs. Overseas subcontractors are permitted where applicants can justify why a UK subcontractor cannot be used
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK
• Funded organisations must intend to exploit the results in the UK
• This grant is Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) under de minimis regulations