MRC / AstraZeneca Small Molecule HTS
Supports high-throughput small molecule discovery for faster medicine development and health impact.
The MRC/AstraZeneca Small Molecule High-Throughput Screening (HTS) programme is a joint initiative between the Medical Research Council and AstraZeneca that provides academic researchers with access to AstraZeneca's compound libraries, screening facilities, and scientific expertise for small-molecule drug discovery. The programme funds up to four projects per annual round from a total pool of £1,000,000, with a maximum award of £270,000 per project. The funding split is structured as two components: AstraZeneca provides up to £170,000 at 100% full economic cost for assay optimisation and screening activities conducted at its facilities, while the researcher's host institution receives up to £100,000 at 80% fEC to cover researcher visits, travel, consumables, and associated academic costs. Projects run for twelve to eighteen months. The 2026 deadline is 9 September 2026. Contact for applications is highthroughputscreen@mrc.ukri.org.
Eligibility is restricted to academic researchers at UKRI-eligible UK research organisations; commercial entities cannot lead applications. Applicants must propose an assayable biological target suitable for small-molecule HTS — proposals without a clearly defined screenable target are out of scope. Before awards are confirmed, AstraZeneca conducts a technical feasibility review and checks that the proposed target has not been previously screened using its compound collection, ensuring no duplication.
With only four projects funded annually from what is expected to be a competitive applicant pool, scientific differentiation on target novelty and disease relevance is essential. The programme is designed for academic groups that have a compelling mechanistic hypothesis and an identified biological target but lack access to industrial-scale screening infrastructure. Successful projects gain not only funding but hands-on collaboration with AstraZeneca scientists, access to a large proprietary compound collection, and a pathway toward hit identification that would otherwise require substantially greater institutional resource.
Small molecule high-throughput screening of novel biological targets using AstraZeneca compound libraries and facilities, co-funded by MRC and AstraZeneca for up to four projects per year.
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