Therapeutic Catalyst

Therapeutic Catalyst

Supports global cancer teams through CRUK to validate novel therapeutic concepts toward patient solutions.

Cancer Research UK's Therapeutic Catalyst scheme accelerates the translation of laboratory discoveries into novel cancer therapeutics by funding exploratory drug discovery projects focused on validating and de-risking therapeutic targets. Awards of up to £250,000 are available over up to 18 months and cover external resources, outsourced activities, staff time, and running expenses. As an AMRC member charity, CRUK funds direct costs only and does not pay full economic cost overheads regardless of the applicant's location. The September 2026 round carries an expression-of-interest deadline of 25 September 2026, reviewed by an internal cross-functional committee, followed by development of a full project proposal in collaboration with the Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Innovation team and a final decision by the external Therapeutic Catalyst Review Panel.

Unlike most CRUK schemes, Therapeutic Catalyst is open globally: any academic researcher at a university or research institute worldwide who runs an independent laboratory is eligible to apply. The scheme specifically funds deconvolution and validation of novel therapeutic targets and pathways, novel therapeutic approaches to validated targets, target identification platforms and screens, and drug discovery feasibility work on advanced assets. It does not fund basic cancer biology research, hit-finding, combination studies, drug repositioning with approved therapies, GMP manufacture, or early detection and diagnostic technologies. All funded projects run collaboratively between the applicant's laboratory and the Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Innovation team, which provides scientific and operational support throughout.

The application route uses the Flexi-Grant portal and begins with an expression of interest. Teams whose research has yielded compelling preclinical evidence for a target but requires expert medicinal chemistry or pharmacology support to progress to a validated probe compound are best positioned. Contact therapeutic.catalyst@cancer.org.uk for pre-submission guidance. The earlier May 2026 deadline has already passed; the September 2026 cycle represents the next available entry point.