£600m funding call opens for UK biomedical research centres

A £600 million tranche of government funding for a key part of the UK's life sciences strategy – expanding the country's network of biomedical research centres (BRCs) – is now being made available.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched a funding call for new BRCs, which carry out early phase, translational research and try to turn discoveries made in UK labs into commercially-viable programmes.

There are currently 20 of the centres, built around partnerships between NHS trusts and top-tier universities, which can receive up to £50 million in government funding over a five-year period, with the next cycle running from 2028 to 2033.

The NIHR said the new funding round includes a "strengthened remit" to select groups that can deliver on key elements of the government's NHS 10-Year Plan, built around digitalisation, more community-based care, and disease prevention, as well as the Life Sciences Plan, which aims to make the UK Europe's leading life sciences economy by 2030.

Among the priorities is translational research that "responds directly to the needs of government, the health and care system, and the public," can boost the UK economy, and address health inequalities, said NIHR.

It is also looking for BRCs that can "champion collaboration" – in other words, can forge close links with life sciences companies and other industrial partners – to further strengthen research capacity across the UK.

Health Innovation and Safety Minister, Preet Kaur Gill, said that the BRC network is "a vital part of what makes Britain a world leader in health research," and the new funding round "will ensure research is focused on the challenges that matter most to patients and the public."

The call opens at 1pm today and will close at the same time on 17th September. NIHR is also holding a virtual event in June, and an in-person meeting in July, for would-be applicants.

£260m coming for Strategic Infrastructure Partnerships (SIPs)

Meanwhile, NIHR also said that a separate block of £260 million in funding over five years is being made available for infrastructure investments to ensure that BRCs and other parts of the UK's research network, including life sciences companies, can work together on large-scale, complex health challenges.

These Strategic Infrastructure Partnership (SIPs) – in line for between £6 and £15 million – will be commissioned separately, and NIHR said the first will focus on supporting the shift from hospital to community care.

NIHR chief executive Prof Lucy Chappell, who is also chief scientific advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care, said the SIPs "will play a crucial role in incentivising collaboration across different centres, with a focus on ensuring that we deliver pull-through from earlier stages of discovery, through development, into delivering tangible change for the people who need it most."

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay