Wellcome Leap
Runs Wellcome Leap, a global health innovation arm managing bold challenge programmes for biomedical transformation.
Wellcome Leap is the US-based operational arm of the Wellcome Trust, structured as a 501(c)(3) subsidiary with an independent board and its own leadership. It was established in 2020 with a Wellcome Trust commitment of $300 million, and it runs as a global ARPA-style health funder rather than as a traditional grant maker.
The platform currently runs 15 active programs across 30 countries, with each challenge typically backed at roughly $45 million to $60 million and delivered through milestone-based performer contracts. Its active portfolio includes Focused Antibiotics, VISIBLE, FORM, The Missed Vital Sign, CARE, Untangling Addiction, Dynamic Resilience, Q4Bio, SAVE, In Utero, R3 Global, MCPsych, Delta Tissue, 1kD, and HOPE. The work spans women's health, maternal and infant outcomes, mental health, quantum computing for biology, surgical training, pandemics, and bioengineered kidney research.
Wellcome Leap is built for teams that can move quickly and work across organisations, with performers drawn from academia, biotech, and the private sector in any legal jurisdiction. Regina E. Dugan leads the organisation as chief executive, Jay Flatley chairs the board, and the operating model is deliberately compressed around program directors, clear milestones, and large outcome-focused challenges. It sits inside the Wellcome orbit, but its funding mechanism and pace are distinct from the parent foundation's conventional grant programmes.