MRC Biomedical Catalyst: Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) is sponsored by Medical Research Council (MRC). This scheme supports academic-led projects aiming to improve prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of significant health needs, or developing research tools to increase the efficiency of developing interventions.

Developmental pathway funding scheme: stage one – UKRI Funding opportunity: Developmental pathway funding scheme: stage one Medical Research Council (MRC) 20 November 2025 9:00am UK time 22 December 2025 9:00am UK time Last updated: 17 March 2026 - see all updates Apply for funding to develop and test novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and other interventions.

Your project can start and finish at any stage on the developmental pathway from prototype development, through pre-clinical refinement and testing to early-phase clinical studies and trials (up to phase 2a). You must be based at a research organisation eligible for Medical Research Council (MRC) funding. There is no limit on the amount of funding you can apply for, but it should be appropriate to the project.

We usually fund 80% of a project’s full economic cost (FEC). This is an ongoing funding opportunity. The funding opportunity will open on 2 July 2026.

This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must: be employed by an eligible research organisation show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work be looking to develop and test novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and other interventions If you do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application the research organisation is confirming, if it is successful: contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project all necessary support for you and the project will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers Who is not eligible to apply You are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity as a project lead if you are based at an international research organisation.

This does not include project leads from MRC Unit The Gambia or MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. International researchers As MRC is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. Project co-leads (international) make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project.

Their contribution and added value to the research collaboration should be clearly explained and justified in the application, see Applicant and team capability to deliver. Read the UKRI project co-lead (international) eligibility for more details. Please contact us if you are uncertain about eligibility.

You should include all other international collaborators, or UK partners not based at approved organisations, as project partners. Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

You can apply for academically-led translational projects that aim to either: improve prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of significant health needs develop research tools that increase the efficiency of developing interventions All human diseases and medical interventions are eligible for support, both in the context of UK healthcare and addressing global health issues.

Your project can start and finish at any stage on the developmental pathway from early development, through pre-clinical refinement and testing to early-phase clinical studies and trials (up to phase 2a). You must provide sufficient proof-of-concept data in support of your approach. You can submit follow-on proposals where you can justify the need for continued support.

You can apply for funding for smaller scale or earlier-stage translational projects generating critical data and confidence to de-risk further development via the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) through: MRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (available at certain research organisations) MRC Developmental Pathway Gap Fund: single-step support for medical product development You can apply for funding for work on novel: candidate therapeutic entities (for example, drug discovery) vaccines for infectious or non-infectious disease biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins) advanced therapeutics (for example, gene therapy and cell therapy) regenerative medicine approaches medicines repurposing studies (clinical studies or pre-clinical activities, where these are required for regulatory purposes), using existing therapies for new indications digital healthcare and app development diagnostics (including biomarker validation and development of clinical decision-making tools) medical imaging technology surgical techniques or tools behavioural and psychological interventions radiotherapy and radiation protocols Activities we do not support This funding opportunity will not support: fundamental or investigative research not linked to a development plan, supported by the MRC science areas technology development not aligned to a medical or clinical developmental plan, likely Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) or Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) remit clinical studies where the main aim is to investigate disease mechanism, supported by the MRC Experimental Medicine Panel late-phase clinical trials, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) efficacy and mechanism evaluation, health technology assessment and global health research programmes development of technologies or interventions that aim to improve health service delivery rather than meeting a specific clinical need development of population-level and societal solutions to healthcare challenges MRC’s remit, programmes and priority areas NIHR’s efficacy and mechanism evaluation programme NIHR’s health technology assessment programme NIHR’s global health research programmes There is no limit to the duration of your project.

You should justify the timescale of the project in the context of the proposed work. Projects should start one to six months after the funding decision date. There is no limit to the amount of funding you can apply for.

You should justify the resources needed in the context of the proposed work. We will fund 80% of the full economic cost and 100% of permitted exceptions. Find out more about full economic costing .

You can request funding for costs such as: a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads support for other posts such as research and technical staff data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs estates and indirect costs public partnerships and related activities, including payments to public contributors You can also request costs for work to be undertaken at international organisations by international project co-leads.

We will fund 100% of the eligible costs. The total of such costs requested for international applicants from high-income countries (those not on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients ), India and China must not exceed 30% of the total resources requested. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from Development Assistance Committee (DAC ) list countries.

For more information on international costs and what we will and will not fund see costs we fund and the Collaborate with Researchers in Norway guidance . costs for PhD studentships funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants costs associated with applying for IP protection, for example, patent filing We encourage working with charities or industry partners where these partnerships can add value to the project.

Collaborators may add value by giving access to: Please note that collaboration is not a prerequisite for application. You should make a clear case for the DPFS award being academic-led and requiring MRC funding to support the work proposed. Be clear about any conflicts of interest and how they will be managed through the conflict of interest policies at the project lead’s research organisation.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research.

You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as: recruitment of people as research participants providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project Each project partner must provide a statement of support.

If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the team project partner falls within the industry collaboration framework . Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles . Who cannot be included as a project partner Any individual included in your application with a core team cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation, this includes other departments within the same organisation. If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.

Supporting skills and talent We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment . Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks. See further guidance and information about TR&I , including where applicants can find additional support.

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system. The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. Confirm you are the project lead. Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service.

We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service, to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you. Answer questions directly in the text boxes.

You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must: provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) insert each new image on a new line use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words.

The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include: sentences or paragraphs of text excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see: how applicants use the Funding Service how research offices use the Funding Service how reviewers use the Funding Service References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application. Hyperlinks can be used in reference information.

When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that: references are easily identifiable by the assessors references are formatted as appropriate to your research persistent identifiers are used where possible General use of hyperlinks Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment . We must receive your application by 22 December 2025 at 9:00am UK time. You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines. Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

MRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications. We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice .

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email dpfsanddcs@mrc. ukri. org Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include: individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave) additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection the application is an invited resubmission For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice .

Institutional matched funding There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations.

Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged. This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at board and panel outcomes . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information.

Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example: the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: the challenge the project addresses potential applications and benefits List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage. UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . If this is a resubmission, provide a response to feedback from your previous Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) application. Please include the feedback itself in this section.

What the assessors are looking for in your response If your application is not a resubmission, enter ‘n/a’ in the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next question. If your application is a re-submission to DPFS, please provide previous reference number and identify any invitations from us permitting your re-submission.

how this application differs from the previous application how previous feedback has been considered and addressed You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. What is the opportunity or challenge you are seeking to address?

What the assessors are looking for in your response the health or clinical need you are seeking to address how your work could lead to the development of a new or improved prototype, product, service or technology how meeting this need could lead to significant health or patient benefit, or alleviate an important translational bottleneck the competing solutions and their status, including whether similar or complementary work is being undertaken elsewhere the key competitive advantages of your proposed solution the potential market for your proposed solution, in terms of the target product profile, patient numbers and financial parameters You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form, if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Scientific background and current stage of development What is the background to this application and evidence to support the proposed solution?

What the assessors are looking for in your response a brief description of the current stage of development an overview of the rationale and scientific background of your application information about your previous or current funding (if applicable) that has enabled and informed the proposed work, include any previous UKRI grant references.

If you will have any funding concurrent to this project, explain any overlap and how that funding will support the proposed work in the case of applications involving institutes, units or centres with existing core funding, including those funded by UKRI and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), such as Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs), describe how the proposed work and resources requested builds on, but is distinct from, core funded programmes of research In this section, you must also provide supporting data, including a selection of figures, tables and images where relevant , to demonstrate the current development stage of your project and proof-of-concept to support your application.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. References may be included within this section. Small molecule supplementary information If you are requesting funding for a hit to lead, lead optimisation or candidate selection project, please provide structures.

What the assessors are looking for in your response If your application is not about hit-to-lead and lead optimisation, enter ‘n/a’ in the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next question. Download and complete the DPFS small molecule supplementary information form (DOCX, 47KB) , then paste the table into the text box.

Using the following headings, ensure that you provide: target product profile (TPP) or key target compound parameters of the proposed investigational new drug (IND): mechanism of action, such as agonist, antagonist route of administration, such as oral, IV, topical duration of treatment, such as acute, chronic dosage regimen, such as twice daily You should provide structures for the most promising chemical series being actively developed.

Failure to include chemical structures may negatively impact the ability to assess the suitability or strengths of your proposed chemistry plan. Use the table as a template, summarise the available data in the same column for each series.

Data are requested for any available assays for the lead molecule shown and the range seen within the chemical series, including (but not limited to): physicochemical properties liabilities and development risks for up to two chemotypes or chemical series summarise the main structure activity or property relationships for each chemical series highlight the key challenges to optimisation of the series towards the TPP and outline how these will be addressed describe the biological assays and models to be used in the project including their duration and throughput where relevant explain how risk associated with the translation between in vivo assays, in models, and activity in humans will be minimised Development plan and route to patient benefit What is the proposed approach for further development, and how will the project progress the innovation or technology towards achieving market or health or patient benefits?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Using the following headings, outline your current development plan and exit strategy.

how the proposed work will enable its development the project’s primary objectives the project endpoint that would indicate that there is a reasonable chance of attracting onward investment the expertise or any consultancy required to deliver the proposed work how the proposed work will inform or deploy the product or technology using the most appropriate route to market or patient benefit what further support you may need, following this funding, to deliver your product or technology, such as access to further funding, networks, partnerships, private investment and skills the criteria that would need to be met to access further support if you are ultimately seeking to develop a commercial product, the potential market value and how this will be realised, such as business development plans any engagement taken place or planned with potential downstream funders, partners or regulators, outlining who they are and the status of discussions the plans and strategy for further development, outlining the planned route to achieving patient benefits following the end of the DPFS project How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide an outline of your project plan, including your plans related to methodology and experimental design, along with your risk management strategy.

Provide a summary of the project plan and an embedded ‘Gantt chart’, which should outline: your project specific deliverables your project’s starting point and approaches proposed to deliver the planned objectives a minimum of two key progression milestones, one being the project end for each milestone, the ‘Go or No-go’ criteria that will be used to allow robust decision-making on project progression, and an estimate of costs per milestone the overall timeframe of the project the resourcing necessary to deliver the proposed work, including access to facilities, infrastructure or equipment if applicable, any NHS costs (excess treatment and NHS support costs), exception costs and outsourcing activity that the project will require (a SoECAT is only required for stage two DPFS applications) if applicable, the inclusion of patient and public involvement, engagement or partnerships, and the added value these offer Your project plan should also describe the project management requirements, including the commitment and involvement from your: translational research office, your technology transfer office or both To support your project plan, you must embed a Gantt chart in the text box, that includes: project tasks (these being short, achievable and measurable activities) with, where relevant, the party responsible for delivering the task and dependency between tasks milestones which are major specifically timed ‘go or no-go ’ decision points Methodology and experimental design As part of your methodology and experimental design, ensure that you outline: the use of animals or patients, including justification for why specific animal models or clinical populations have been chosen, following the MRC embedding diversity in research design policy the access you will have to statistical support during the project potential sources of bias and describe the strategies that will be adopted to minimise their effects for clinical studies, the recruitment and retention approach Outline the key risks to the project and your risk management plan, including: how likely the risks are to occur what their impact would be on the success and deliverability of the project how these risks will be managed, by whom and related escalation or mitigations procedures You may use a risk table if preferred.

We suggest you structure your response using the following headings, with approximate word counts for each: project plan: 1,100 words methodology and experimental design: 400 words risk management: 500 words References may be included throughout the approach section. We suggest you include your references under the most relevant heading. Any references you include count towards the approximate word limit indicated for each heading.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Reproducibility and statistical design How will you ensure your proposed work is reliable, robust and reproducible?

What assessors are looking for in your response You should provide a statistical analysis plan. We expect you to seek professional statistical or other relevant advice in preparing your response, which should include: planned statistical analyses Refer to the MRC guidance for applicants , for further information, examples and online tools. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form, if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. The length of your response will vary depending on the type of project, you may not need to use 250 words. Applicant and team capability to deliver Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have: the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on ) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI .

You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings: contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships contributions to the wider research and innovation community contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit Provide any further details relevant to your application.

This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them). Complete this as a narrative.

Do not format it like a CV. References may be included within this section. The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Intellectual Property (IP) management and dissemination of project outcomes What IP will be generated and how would it be managed during the project? What the assessors are looking for in your response If your project will not generate any new IP, enter ‘n/a’ into the text box. A detailed definition of what DPFS considers to be IP is below.

The generation of protectable IP is not an essential requirement for DPFS. Projects that will not generate patentable materials but that will nevertheless have the potential to provide health benefits are accepted on an equal basis. However, ownership and management of IP must be consistent with our funding requirements.

Projects with no plausible route to exploitation and ultimate health benefit or impact are extremely unlikely to be supportable.

describe any new IP or knowledge that the project is expected to generate outline how any intellectual assets generated will be managed throughout the project to enable further development and maximise the opportunity for patient benefit confirm the organisations or individuals who will own any arising IP and any live, pending or envisioned agreements governing ownership or exploitation of that IP outline if the applicants have freedom to operate for this project, for future development work, or for clinical use if access to background IP is required, explain this including the organisations or individuals that hold the relevant background IP rights.

If this background IP is held by a third party (or a non-academic applicant), has access been agreed? If not, why do you believe you will be able to access the required IP on reasonable terms? Add details about any project partners contributions.

If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service. A project partner is a collaborating person or organisation who will have an integral role in your proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the