Apply now for Cancer Diagnostic Innovation Programme (UK)

Deadline: 28-Oct-2026

Innovate UK is offering grants to support the clinical validation and evaluation of early cancer diagnostic technologies and devices, with a particular focus on less common cancers. The competition is part of the Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme and aims to accelerate innovative diagnostic solutions that can enable earlier cancer detection and diagnosis. The funding supports projects that can demonstrate clear potential for clinical impact and health economic benefits, helping promising diagnostic technologies move closer to practical healthcare application.

About the Innovate UK Cancer Diagnostic Funding

The competition is delivered by Innovate UK through the Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme. It focuses on advancing early cancer diagnostic technologies and devices through development, clinical validation, and evaluation. A particular priority is given to less common cancers, which for this competition means any cancer type outside breast, prostate, lung, and bowel cancer. This definition also includes rare forms of these four major cancer types. The programme aims to help innovative technologies progress toward earlier and more accurate cancer detection and diagnosis. What Types of Technologies Are Supported? The competition supports innovative diagnostic technologies, devices, and approaches that have the potential to improve early cancer detection. Projects should demonstrate a credible pathway toward: - Clinical impact. - Health economic impact. - Earlier cancer detection. - Earlier diagnosis. - Practical healthcare application. Applicants should clearly explain how their technology or diagnostic approach addresses an important unmet need and why further clinical validation or evaluation is required. Less Common Cancers as a Priority The competition places particular emphasis on cancers that are less common. For this funding opportunity, eligible cancers are those outside: - Breast cancer. - Prostate cancer. - Lung cancer. - Bowel cancer. Rare forms of breast, prostate, lung, and bowel cancers are also included within the less common cancer focus. This emphasis is intended to encourage development of diagnostic solutions addressing areas where innovative approaches could contribute to earlier diagnosis and improved clinical outcomes. Eligible Project Activities Projects can cover a range of development, validation, evaluation, and preparation activities.

Potential activities include:

- Clinical validation studies. - Clinical evaluation studies. - Early phase clinical trials. - Safety testing. - Efficacy testing. - Technology demonstration in relevant and operational environments. - Regulatory planning. - Product development. Projects can therefore support technologies at stages where substantial clinical evidence and further development are needed before wider healthcare adoption. Clinical Validation and Evaluation Clinical validation and evaluation are central to the competition. Applicants should demonstrate how their project will generate evidence about the performance, safety, efficacy, or clinical usefulness of the proposed diagnostic technology or approach. Where appropriate, projects may include early phase clinical trials or structured clinical evaluation studies designed to establish evidence needed for further development. Safety and Efficacy Testing Projects may also undertake safety and efficacy testing. These activities can help establish whether an innovative diagnostic technology performs as intended and whether it has sufficient evidence to progress toward clinical use and further development. Technology Demonstration The competition supports technology demonstration in relevant and operational environments. Demonstrating a technology in an appropriate real-world or operational setting can help establish its practical performance and identify challenges that may need to be addressed before wider deployment. Regulatory Planning Regulatory planning is another supported activity. Projects should consider the regulatory pathway relevant to their diagnostic technology and explain how the proposed work will help address requirements for future development and potential healthcare use. Product Development Funding can also support product development activities connected to the clinical validation and evaluation of diagnostic technologies. Applicants should ensure that product development activities are clearly connected to the project’s overall clinical and commercial pathway. Expected Clinical and Health Economic Impact Projects are expected to demonstrate clear potential for both clinical impact and health economic impact. A strong proposal should explain how the technology could contribute to earlier cancer detection or diagnosis and why this could provide meaningful benefits to patients, healthcare systems, or wider society. Applicants should present a clear pathway from the proposed research and development activities to future clinical and economic benefits. Grant Funding Available Projects must have total eligible costs between: - £1.5 million and £4 million - Approximately US$1.905 million to US$5.08 million The project budget should be proportionate to the proposed activities and clearly justified. Applicants should provide a realistic cost structure showing how funding will be used to deliver clinical validation, evaluation, development, testing, regulatory, or related activities. Project Duration Projects must last between 24 and 36 months. This provides a two- to three-year period for organisations to conduct the proposed development, validation, evaluation, and related activities. Project planning should ensure that the proposed activities and milestones can realistically be completed within the permitted timeframe. Who Can Apply? The funding is intended for organisations capable of delivering the proposed diagnostic technology development, clinical validation, or evaluation work. To be