Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare

Who can apply

Your project

Projects must:

• start on 1 October 2026

• end by 30 September 2028

• last up to 24 months

• have expected total eligible costs of between £200,000 and £1.5 million inclusive of VAT, per project, but we will also consider justifiable eligible costs outside of this range

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Contract has been approved by Innovate UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. You must also include any expected Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) or other approval body costs regarding regulatory compliance or certification in your eligible project costs. See our overview of eligible project costs.

If your project’s total costs or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

Applicant

To lead a project, you can:

• be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally

• work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project, and you can only apply for one strand. You will not be able to transfer your application, and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.

If you submit the same project into both the Contracts for Innovation and the CR&D strands we will only accept your first application.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Funding

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

The funding supports development of pharmaceutical, digital and MedTech tools to improve treatment and recovery, and reduce harm and deaths linked to drug and alcohol addiction.

This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a contract.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

For MedTech and digital health tools to develop a prototype and undertake field testing, contracts of up to £1 million, inclusive of VAT, per project, are expected to be awarded.

For projects focused on pharmaceutical solutions to develop a prototype and undertake field testing, contracts of up to £1.5 million, inclusive of VAT, per project, are expected to be awarded.

We will consider justifiable eligible costs outside of this range.

The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:

• adjust the provisional funding allocations

• apply a ‘portfolio’ approach

The contract is completed at the end of the competition, and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

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

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £1.5 million, per project.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £1.5 million, per project.

Research and development (R&D)

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. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

• commercial development activities such as quantity production

• supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs

• integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Subsidy control

Contracts for Innovation competitions involve procurement of R&D services at a fair market value and are not subject to subsidy control criteria that typically apply to grant funding.

This competition is run by the Authority under the Procurement Act 2023 (R&D exemption).

Your project

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).

For this Contracts for Innovation strand we expect to award funding of up to £1.5 million, inclusive of VAT, per project.

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

In this competition you must undertake the further development of your innovation. You must work closely with potential users and customers, conducting the R&D to progress your project toward commercialisation.

Your project 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

We recommend your project, 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

You must define your goals in your application and your plan for this competition.

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

Contracts will be given to successful applicants.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of treatment, recovery or overdose harm and death prevention projects across different sectors, technologies, target substances, technology maturities, markets, locations, and eligible project costs, including demonstrating value for money. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

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)

Research categories

Technical feasibility studies

This means planned research or critical investigation to gain new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services.

Prototype development and evaluation

This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set.

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

• are not original in scope and duplicate someone else’s work

• are not pharmaceutical solutions, MedTech or digital health tools

• prevent initiation of addictive substance use

• focus on early substance use interventions, prior to addiction being established as a treatment need

• do not have the potential to reach TRL 6 or 7 following an R&D cycle of 24 months

• do not have clear commercial potential

• do not have a clear plan to engage with people with lived experience, treatment or service providers and other relevant services throughout the project

• do not evidence the potential for their proposed innovation to generate positive economic and societal impact

• don't plan to 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

• primarily target the following: tobacco or nicotine addiction; gambling or behavioural addictions

19 February 2026

Online briefing event: watch the recording

Briefing slides are now available to download from Supporting Information.

7 August 2026

Applicants notified

7 August 2026

Feedback

22 September 2026

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Education Session

30 September 2026

Contracts awarded

1 October 2026

Project start from

Before you start

By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.

The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.

When you start an application, you will be prompted to create an account as the lead applicant or sign in as a representative of your organisation. Using your account, you will be able to track your applications progress.

As the applicant you are responsible for:

• collecting the information for your application

• representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful

You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application.

What happens next

A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided. Contracts for this competition will then be issued to all successful applicants.

What we will ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

4. Project Impact.

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Who made you aware of the competition?

Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.

How long has your organisation been established for?

Select a category to state how long has your organisation been established for. You cannot choose more than one.

What is your organisation’s primary focus area?

Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.

Project and scope summary

Provide a short summary of your project.

Describe your project briefly. Be clear about what makes it innovative and how it relates to the scope of the competition. How does it tackle different aspects of the challenge and how will it provide an integrated solution?

Give details of the lead organisation. Before you submit, we expect you to have discussed your application within your project team.

Your answer for this section can be up to 800 words long.

This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it may be rejected.

Public description

Provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project. This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application.

Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Applicant location

You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.

You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all of your questions except questions 1 to 7 which are not scored. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

Do not include any URLs in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video. If you do, your application will be made ineligible.

Question 1. Sector (not scored)

Which sector or sectors does your innovation or intervention fit into:

• pharmaceuticals

• MedTech

• digital health tools

• pharmaceutical and MedTech

• MedTech and digital

• pharmaceutical and digital

• pharmaceutical, MedTech and digital

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement.

You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in.

You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 7. Proposed spend forecast (not scored)

You must show your intended eligible costs for each financial year of the project. This must be the total amount per year for all partners.

You must download and complete the spend profile template and upload it to this question as a spreadsheet.

Question 8. Proposed idea or technology

Describe how your project and proposed idea or technology meet the challenges set out in the competition scope.

Explain how it aligns with the focuses and national strategic priorities for addiction treatment, recovery and harm prevention listed in specific themes.

Include a description of the current state of development or readiness of the idea, and any novelty, differentiation or meaningful improvement over existing approaches.

Your answer can be up to 800 words.

You can submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: How well does the proposal meet the challenge?

Question 9. Technical project summary

What are the main technical challenges you are addressing?

How will you demonstrate that the innovation is safe, reliable, and appropriate for people experiencing drug and alcohol addiction?

Explain:

• the technical approach, how it works and what makes it novel

• the main technical deliverables

• the technical challenges and why they matter

• how your project will address the challenge

• the research and development methods that will prove the scientific, environmental and commercial merit of the project

• what might be achieved by deploying the innovation to address the selected challenge

Your answer can be up to 400 words.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: How valid is the technical approach?

Question 10. Current state of the art and intellectual property

Are similar products currently available in the market?

How is your proposed project differentiated from them?

You must include details of:

• any existing intellectual property (IP) and its significance to your freedom to operate

• novel concepts you develop or employ

• new approaches you will use

• new tools or technologies you will use

You must explain how you would handle any intellectual property (IP) issues which might arise during the project.

You should ensure you can meet the IP clauses set out within the Contracts for Innovation contract.

If you are working with subcontractors, where specialist skills are required, , include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract.

Your answer can be up to 400 words.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: How innovative is this project? How much does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools or technologies for this area? How well the project demonstrates clear understanding of IP and its significance on the freedom to operate.

Question 11. Project plan and methodology

Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones.

Provide evidence that the technology works, can be made into a viable product and can achieve the proposed benefits and meet the needs of the end user.

You must:

• describe the current technology readiness level (TRL) of your innovation or intervention.

• show your plan to progress the technology to TRL 6 or 7 by the end of the project

• list the steps needed to reach the target TRL

• outline how you will develop a working prototype, if needed

• describe how your project will identify and prepare for relevant regulatory and certification requirements to develop towards TRL9 and market readiness after the funded project

• explain any regulatory pathway and certification steps you will plan to begin or complete during the project

• describe the main success criteria

• provide a clear plan to ensure technical and commercial viability

• describe the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks and how you will mitigate them

• identify the project management processes that will ensure you achieve your milestones

• describe the resources required to deliver the project

You must explain how you have involved appropriate service providers or settings and those with lived experience in the development of your innovation.

You must explain how you will engage these groups to guide the delivery of your project and ensure UK end user and UK market fit for your intervention.

You must also include any design principles and co-design that may have been used to establish market fit through engaging these groups, and your plans for further engagement and co-design during this project.

Your answer can be up to 800 words.

You must upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your milestones must:

• be clear

• be defined using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) criteria

• be associated with the appropriate deliverables and payments

• indicate your payment schedule by month

This question will be assessed against these assessment criteria:

• does the proposal show a clear plan for reaching technical and commercial end points aligned to TRL 6 or 7

• is there a clear management plan

• what are the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks to the project’s success

• how will identified risks be effectively managed

• are the milestones and evaluation procedures appropriate

• is there a clear explanation of how people with lived experience and relevant service providers and settings have been involved in project design, and will be engaged throughout delivery

Note: information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed milestones and associated payments stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.

Question 12. Technical team and expertise

Who is in the technical team? What expertise do they offer?

Provide a brief description of your project team, including any subcontractors.

Describe:

• and evidence how each organisation has the team skills, capabilities, experience and understanding of drug and alcohol addiction healthcare to deliver the project and realise the intended benefits

• how much of their time will be spent on the project

Your answer can be up to 400 words.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: Does the applicant have the skills, capabilities and experience to deliver the intended benefits?

Question 13. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost? How does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

Describe:

• the total costs inclusive of VAT (If applicable) you are requesting in terms of the project goals for this competition

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

Proposed costs stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary.

All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a fair market value and not include profit.

Your answer can be up to 400 words.

You can submit a single appendix as a spreadsheet in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Note that all payments are made monthly in arrears on submission of an invoice. The invoice must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations. Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

The assessors are required to judge the application finances in terms of value for money. They will score your finances against this assessment criterion: Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?

Note, the information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question.

The question will be scored against the assessment criterion: Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?

Question 14. Commercial potential

What is the commercial potential of your project? You must focus on your proposed customer’s needs.

Describe your:

• timescales

• projects commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service in the UK

• delivery plan

• expected route to market

• plans to seek market and customer feedback and gather data

Describe the competitive advantage that your project has over existing or alternative technologies that meet market needs.

Describe any existing commercial relationships relevant to the project.

With the focus on your proposed customer’s needs, you can also mention the future commercial potential across the public or private sector and international markets.

Your answer can be up to 400 words.

You must provide an annexe with full financial projections to support your commercial potential as a result of the project. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria:

• is there a clear commercial potential in the UK for a marketable product, process or service

• is there a clear plan to deliver that and a clear route to the UK market

• primary customers and decision makers have been identified

• how significant is the competitive advantage of this technology over the nearest currently available solutions to the challenge identified

• financial projections

3. Finances

Enter your project costs, organisation details and funding details.

You will be asked to enter your payment schedule and identify which months you expect milestones to be completed.

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs. We advise you answer the VAT registered question first before entering your eligible costs. Unless prior agreement has been given your total eligible project costs must not exceed:

• £1 million for MedTech and digital health tools

• £1.5 million for projects involving pharmaceuticals

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your eligible project cost total.

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and advise you to seek independent advice from HMRC.

All milestones must have clear deliverables and success criteria. Evidence that these have been achieved must be provided at each quarterly review meeting. The costs for your milestones should be representative of the level of effort required to complete each milestone.

We will not make any advance payments, so you should consider how you will manage your cashflow throughout the life of the project. Agreed milestones will form part of your contract and will be used to monitor the progress of the project.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations.

Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance see the eligibility section in this competition.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

You must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by five independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare - Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Background and further information

About Contracts for Innovation competitions

Contracts for Innovation provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector. This can lead to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness.

The Contracts for Innovation programme:

• supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of R&D

• generates new business opportunities for companies

• provides a route to market for new ideas

• creates opportunities to work directly with the public sector

Contracts for Innovation competitions are open to all eligible organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. Developments are 100% funded and focused on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation.

Contracts for Innovation encourages the creation and protection of new intellectual property (IP). Applicants retain all the rights to both foreground and background IP but will be expected to grant certain royalty-free licences to the funder for use of the foreground IP.

Contracts for Innovation is a procurement of R&D services. If successful, you will receive a contract to deliver the proposed activity. Costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.

You will be asked to input your milestones with monthly completion dates as part of your application, and payments will be made monthly and in arrears for completed milestones. This is in line with standard Innovate UK monitoring.

You must submit invoices for all work undertaken and these must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monthly claim period for all completed milestones. Any invoices submitted outside of this time may not be paid until the end of the next claim period.

You should consider how this may affect your cash flow throughout the project and what impact this could have on your subcontractors.

If you are VAT registered, your total costs are expected to include VAT that you would charge as a service provider. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business and applicants should ensure that VAT has been calculated correctly as part of their application. You will need to confirm your VAT status as part of the application process

Note: we are seeing a rise in double counting of VAT during the application process, making some applicants ineligible. To avoid this, it is important you input your costs minus VAT. VAT is added on by us in the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

Suppliers for each project will be selected by an open competition process and retain the intellectual property generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the contracting authority. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an early customer for a new technology and to fund its development.

Broader Information

The Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG) programme is delivered as part of the wider Office for Life Sciences (OLS) Healthcare Goals programme. The AHG programme aims to position the UK as a global leader in addiction healthcare innovation, fostering partnerships between researchers, industry, NHS, and third sector providers.

The AHG programme aligns directly with policy objectives in the UK Government’s 10 year drugs plan, From Harm to Hope, the 10 Year Health Plan, and the Life Sciences Sector Plan, and helps to deliver on the government’s missions on health, growth and safer streets, from the Plan for Change.

The AHG Catalysing Innovation awards scheme has been designed to meet the objective of the AHG programme to: catalyse the development, approval and deployment of pharmaceutical and MedTech innovations that effectively treat drug and alcohol addictions​, improve and sustain recovery, and prevent harm and deaths from problematic drug and alcohol use​.

Successful applicants will be offered exclusive access to a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) hosted education session ahead of project initiation, covering regulatory, evaluation, and reimbursement processes.

Attendees will learn evidence requirements, stakeholder engagement, and key success factors to prepare for UK market readiness, ensuring greater understanding of how to navigate regulatory and evaluation processes.

Find out more at GOV.UK: Life Sciences Healthcare Goals.

National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR)

The NIHR infrastructure provides research expertise, specialist facilities, a research delivery workforce and support services which all help to support and deliver the research it funds, and research funded by others.

See the industry contact form here.

For other enquiries contact NIHR.

Health and Care Research Wales Centres – Clinical Trials Unit

The Health and Care Research Wales Clinical Trials Unit has a wide pool of expertise, that is able to navigate the complexities of each stage of the research pathway, from putting together effective funding proposals to conducting well designed studies that feature in peer reviewed publications. This enables them to partner both with first time and seasoned researchers from the NHS and industry, as well as academia.

Briefing recording and slides

Online briefing event: watch the recording

Briefing slides are available to download:

Applicant Briefing Addiction Healthcare Combined.pdf (opens in a new window)

Setting up your project

You will be notified by email on the date published for this competition. Notifications may be sent any time up to 5pm.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, where we gather the information to set up your project.

You will have 30 days (including weekends and bank holidays) to complete all of your project set up. Within this time, you will also be required to submit:

• project location

• any answers to financial or milestone queries we have requested

• any requested documentation to support your project

Your funding offer may be withdrawn if project setup is not completed within this or an alternative timeframe as advised by Innovate UK.

In order for us to process your invoices, you must make sure you have a valid business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.

The bank account which milestone payments are to be paid into must:

• be a business account in the same name as the organisation listed in IFS

• have a cheque and credit clearing facility

Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria. UK bank accounts must be regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). International bank accounts may be subject to additional financial checks.

Your Contract

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your contract. The contract will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. The contract is final and the terms are non-negotiable. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.

You must not start your project before the date stated on your email and contract. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your project.

Your contract start date is provided in the dates and eligibility sections. This cannot be varied and all contracts must start on that date.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK and Office for Life Sciences (OLS) reporting to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) (each an ‘agency’).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to OLS and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants

• scoring and feedback on the application

• information received during the management and administration of the contract, such as Monitoring Service Provider reports

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK and OLS are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect and OLS will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

OLS: Department of Health and Social Care privacy notice

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Further help and guidance

If you want help to find an organisation to work with, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

The NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions runs a network of more than 100 people with living and lived experience of addictive products and behaviours. If you are looking for PPIE input for your application, the network may have capacity to assist. Collaboration opportunities must meet standards for meaningful involvement, for example, paid, feedback given, safeguarding considered. If this offer is of interest, contact Abigail Severn for more details: abigail.severn@kcl.ac.uk.

England

Health Innovation Networks (HINs)

There are 15 Health Innovation Networks across England, established by NHS England in 2013 to spread innovation at pace and scale, improving health and generating economic growth. The networks transform lives through innovation by supporting health and social care teams to find, test and implement new solutions at scale to the NHS’ greatest challenges, driving economic growth.

The Health Innovation Networks provide boots on the ground support to local health and care teams to deliver health innovation, creating improved health and economic growth in all communities.

The Health Innovation Network

How to find your local Health Innovation Network

Scotland

Innovation within Scotland is supported by three NHS Scotland Innovation Hubs: North of Scotland, West of Scotland, Health Innovation South East Scotland.

You can engage with the NHS Scotland Innovation Hubs to scope opportunities to collaborate and to work with them to access relevant expertise to support your project, and evidence this in your application. These Innovation Hubs are embedded within NHS Scotland and are able to support your project, providing safe and ethical access to relevant systems, data and patient groups and supporting testing in a real-world environment.

For further information and connection to a site, contact:

Health Innovation South East Scotland: loth.innovations@nhs.scot or Contact Us - East Region Innovation

West of Scotland Innovation Hub: innovation@ggc.scot.nhs.uk or West of Scotland Innovation Hub

North of Scotland Innovation Hub: gram.nosinnovationtestbed@nhs.scot or North of Scotland Innovation Hub

Wales

Life Sciences Hub Wales

Life Sciences Hub Wales is an arm’s length body of Welsh Government. They exist to catalyse innovation and collaboration between industry, health, social care, and academia, making a positive difference to people, families, and businesses across the nation.

We are Life Sciences Hub Wales

Health and Care Research Wales Support and Delivery Service

Health and Care Research Wales is a networked organisation, supported by Welsh Government, which brings together a wide range of partners across the NHS in Wales, local authorities, universities, research institutions, third sector and others. They work in close partnership with other government agencies and research funders (both in Wales and across the UK), industry partners, patients, service users, public and other stakeholders.

Support and guidance for researchers

Northern Ireland

Drug and Alcohol Research Network (Northern Ireland) (DARN)

DARN provides a hub for researchers, policymakers and practitioners engaged in research on drugs and alcohol. The network acts as an inter-disciplinary forum where findings from areas as diverse as social work, public health, education, economics, sociology, psychology, law and pharmacy can be shared. The aim is to develop a national and global informed research base on drugs and alcohol issues.

To explore support DARN could provide for finding partners or to plan your project contact Anne Campbell a.campbell@qub.ac.uk and Gillian Shorter g.shorter@qub.ac.uk.

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.