The latest SBRI competition puts up to £3 million (Track One) or £5 million (Track Two) behind NHS cancer innovations, it funds deployment rather than development. If your technology already works and you want to prove it at scale across NHS sites, this call is worth a close look.
What is actually funded
This is less a traditional grant and more a contract, awarded through an invitation to tender, to help proven cancer technologies move from early evidence into real NHS use.
Two challenge areas sit beneath it: diagnostic support, and streamlining NHS systems to save clinician time.
Track One: SME led
Up to £3 million over 24 months, fully funded, with no match funding. It suits SMEs with a working product and some early evidence, but not yet from multiple sites. You will need:
– DTAC compliance and relevant regulatory approval
– Proof of safety from at least one clinical site
– An independent evaluation partner
– Deployment across several NHS sites
Already have multiple site evaluation and health economic evidence? Track Two fits better.
Track Two: NHS led
Up to £5 million, but the SME cannot lead. An Integrated Care Board or Cancer Alliance must apply on your behalf, suiting mature solutions with evaluation and health economics already proven. Funding is tiered, moving from fully funded to shared with the NHS body, before effectively becoming a purchase of your solution.
A go-or-no-go point partway through means continued funding depends on NHS confidence in the results. A significant hurdle is finding a Cancer Alliance partner, since each can submit only one application.
Key dates
The portal opens on 14 October and closes on 1 December, with shortlisting expected by February, contracts awarded around March, and start dates from April or May.
Our take
Assessment weighs evidence quality and impact heavily, alongside a credible evaluation plan. The biggest applicant risk is misjudging which track fits, or underestimating the proof needed of NHS partnerships and evaluation capacity.
This suits SMEs with proven cancer technologies ready to scale across the NHS, and Integrated Care Boards or Cancer Alliances wanting to fast track solutions already showing results.
With a December deadline, now is the time to confirm your evidence base, line up an evaluation partner or NHS sponsor, and check which track fits. Get in touch with our team if you would like to talk through your eligibility.
Sophie Glaser-Deruelle
With over 16 years of dedicated expertise in EU Project Cycle Management and innovation strategy, I specialise in navigating the R&D grant funding landscape of the UK and EU.
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