Our support offer for the life sciences industry
What kind of life sciences companies and research can we support?
We are funded by the UK government to provide free support to the life sciences industry to help you conduct health and social care research in the UK. Learn more about why our support is free.
We support all health and social care research across all therapeutic areas and all phases - from early-phase, translational research to large scale late-phase clinical trials.
We work with companies of all sizes - from start-ups and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to global life science companies and contract research organisations (CROs).
We can work with you at all stages of your research journey - from planning and designing your research, right through to delivery.
Our six pillars of support
Our support is summarised under the following 6 areas.
Funding
Our funding schemes for innovators and SMEs are targeted towards de-risking and advancing development of your health technology or product.
Expertise
Our world-leading clinical, care, and academic experts can provide support throughout your research journey. This could include helping to develop your innovation, design your trial, or optimising an existing protocol for fast and efficient delivery in the UK.
Patients
We can help you to engage patients to shape and take part in your research. We facilitate patient involvement activities to help you plan and design patient-friendly research. We also support you to identify the right locations, settings and sites to recruit participants for your research.
Facilities and sites
We can rapidly connect you with investigators and sites throughout the UK to conduct your study. This includes access to highly specialised research units with cutting edge facilities, right through to sites in NHS and community settings.
Research delivery
Our skilled research workforce is embedded across the NHS and wider health and care system. We can help you to access skilled people, data, systems and tools to support the effective and efficient initiation and delivery of your research.
Samples and data
We can support you to access and curate a range of pre-consenteddatasets and patient samplebiobanks to conduct your research.
Animated overview
You can also watch our 3 minute animation for a quick overview of our support and services.
This summary covers multiple services. Our Life Sciences Industry Information Service provides a free consultation to help you explore what NIHR support is available to support your research and evidence-generation needs. The sooner you get in touch the more you will benefit from our expertise and resources.
Contact us
Fill out our contact form to request a chat with our Industry team. We aim to reply as soon as possible and always within two business days.
Where next?
Visit our NIHR support for industry page to discover our full range of support. You may also be interested in:
- Explore all our services and support
- Read useful articles and guides on delivering health research in the UK
- View our spotlights on UK strengths
- View case studies of our support for industry