MHRA, MRC and Office for Life Sciences launch £20m centres competition
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What happened
On 22 September 2026, the MHRA, Medical Research Council and Office for Life Sciences opened a £20 million funding competition to create four Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation.
Why it matters
The announcement puts public money behind regulatory-science capacity that can shape how quickly new therapies, diagnostics and other health technologies move through evidence generation, approval pathways and adoption planning. It also signals that the UK is using regulation as part of its life-sciences competitiveness offer rather than treating it as a separate compliance function.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the Medical Research Council and the Office for Life Sciences launched a £20 million competition on 22 September 2026 to establish four Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation. The programme is designed to support work on evidence, standards and methods that can speed the safe adoption of new medicines and health technologies. For the UK, the move links regulation, research funding and industrial policy more tightly at a time when ministers are trying to improve NHS uptake and sustain the country’s life-sciences proposition.
Watch for
MHRA publication of the competition guidance, eligibility criteria and application timetable on or after 2026-09-23 UK Research and Innovation or Medical Research Council portal opening for submissions with named lead institutions on or after 2026-09-23 Office for Life Sciences statement specifying priority technology areas or evaluation metrics for the four centres by 2026-09-26 NHS England or Department of Health and Social Care acknowledgement linking the centres to adoption or evaluation pathways by 2026-09-26
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