Transforming innovative drug discovery into life-changing medicines

A national Life Science service driving game-changing global breakthroughs and improving patients’ lives. Here to make sure your next move counts.

Drug discovery


























Tackling complex global challenges, addressing unmet patient needs

Creating momentum by mobilising the right people and partnerships, stimulating innovation through our national programmes.

Global challenges


























Impacting the Life Sciences sector, improving the health of our society

We work with the most innovative entrepreneurs on the brink of discovery, helping them turn their vision into an effective business plan and giving them a greater chance of commercial success.
































What we do

Medicines Discovery Catapult de-risks new medicine discovery, provides access to technologies, skills, and knowledge, and runs impactful R&D partnerships.

We connect innovators to a broad and diverse support network for the next step of their journey. We provide insights, critical commentary, and guidance for the sector and the development of new policy.

We are part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network, co-funded by industry and government. We are not-for-profit and commercially driven. We reinvest time, money, resources and discoveries back into Life Sciences to help our sector thrive.

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The impact
we have made

We have supported 323 innovators, helping them raise over £1.53bn of R&D investment and supporting them to take five new drugs to clinical trials.

Our impact

£1.53bn

SME funding secured post-engagement

£126.2m

grant income raised in collaboration

5

compounds supported into the clinic

3

partner products progressed to market

10

assays supporting clinical development

323

organisations supported













Drug discovery

We de-risk new medicine discovery and provide access to technologies, skills, and knowledge.

Our experts apply the very best new laboratory technology to validate ideas. We help build long-term success to reshape drug discovery.

We use our expertise and networks to design robust R&D roadmaps for the quickest, safest route to patients and commercial success.

We use our global connections to create momentum for innovators so they can access broader support, secure investment, and get to market.

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A scientist works at a bench in a lab with a large safety cabinet in the background












See how we have helped innovators


CPSA is an ingenious extension of the target engagement toolbox. It is easier to upscale and control in high throughput screening applications than currently available methods. With exemplary support from MDC we have smoothly incorporated it into our Drug Discovery pipeline.

Selvita

MDC’s R&D consulting has been transformative, refining our HT8457S strategy with scientific rigour, identifying and mitigating risks, and strengthening our business model, significantly enhancing Haiku’s credibility.

Haiku Therapeutics

The partnership with MDC has allowed us to secure multiple Innovate UK grants and utilise capabilities such as state-of-the-art PET, which aren’t available elsewhere.

Alchemab Therapeutics

For the first time, we have been able to generate a map of lung fibrosis in 3D at the tissue scale. Collaborating with MDC has been key to its success. Their expertise has supported the successful integration of state-of-the-art technologies, establishing a valuable new resource for the lung fibrosis community.

University of Southampton

Working with MDC allowed us to visualise drug distribution in the brain with a level of clarity we hadn’t achieved before. Their expertise in DESI-MS and willingness to design a project that met our demands provided powerful insights into diffusion patterns, giving us confidence in our compound’s delivery.

TargTex

We worked with the Mass Spectrometry team at MDC to help set up and run a complex biochemical assay. The project was technically demanding, but the deep expertise, knowledge and collaborative approach allowed the team to troubleshoot the many challenges and successfully deliver a viable approach.

Oppilotech

The team at MDC shares our passion for bringing forward innovative medicines, pioneering new technologies, and operating with data-driven flexibility. They have been integral to our project success and possess unique capabilities to support later-stage candidate selection. A truly valued collaborator and dependable partner.

Artbio

Elasmogen was impressed by the quality and rapid delivery timelines for our radiopharmaceutical dosimetry data. There was good interactivity in this project, and we are happy to recommend this service.

Elasmogen

Our collaboration with Medicines Discovery Catapult will not only enable us to engage with the wider scientific community but will also allow us to unlock the potential of Acoustic Mass Spectrometry within drug discovery.

Innovative Medicines and Early Development (IMED) Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca

It’s been absolutely amazing working with MDC and the team.

LUNAC Therapeutics

MDC supported us in developing a therapeutic for Huntington’s Disease through antibody characterisation, iPSC model development, biodistribution studies, imaging and neurodegenerative expertise.

Alchemab Therapeutics

We worked together with MDC on a very challenging and demanding project. The MDC team’s expertise in MSI, commitment and flexibility were key to a successful collaboration and reaching our objectives.

TargTex

MDC are as involved in our project as the founding team, going above and beyond what I expected. I recommend them to new ventures starting out; even if you don’t know exactly what you need, the team can work with you to achieve some phenomenal results.

KLAS Therapeutics

Working with MDC has provided expertise and intellectual input. It has also enabled access to a wider network of companies providing specialist services.

N4 Pharma

By tapping into MDC’s unique drug development expertise and facilities, we are confident we will accelerate the preclinical development of our drug delivery system and its commercialisation.

Sixfold Bioscience

It has been a pleasure working with MDC as their scientists are pleasant and have a broad range of talents.
Importantly for projects like ours, they openly and professionally exchange ideas with SMi’s scientific team and keep us abreast of their research developments.

SMi Systems

It has been great to access the Artificial Intelligence expertise at Medicines Discovery Catapult.
The team has taken an innovative approach that adds value to our product and will benefit our customers.

BioAscent

As an SME, working with MDC allows us access to scientific know-how and in vivo imaging techniques that would be impossible through any other route. The closeness, timeliness and flexibility of the collaboration significantly accelerated our ability to develop the product.

Xerion Healthcare

We have collaborated with MDC for three years, and it continues to provide valuable and high-quality data on our molecules. MDC’s input has directly impacted operational and strategic decisions for our projects and allowed us to move forward with our clinical studies.

Revolo Biotherapeutics

For early-stage SMEs in this space, I thoroughly recommend engaging with MDC, who have the end-to-end knowledge in complex medicines, can support your in-house team and provide access to key equipment that start-ups may not have.

pHion Therapeutics








Tackling the complex global challenges facing patients

We tackle global challenges in Life Sciences by stimulating innovation and addressing unmet patient need through our national programmes.

We connect patient communities, charities, global biotechs, academia, and pharma to accelerate discoveries and improve lives.

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How we have helped

Read our stories showcasing how we have helped drug discovery SMEs and innovators.


Connecting the UK Life Sciences ecosystem

BT-474 cell expressing endogenously tagged Rab7a (late endosomes) stained with lysotracker (lysosomes) and DAPI (DNA).

Addressing unmet patient needs

An image of the hippocampus region of the brain used in neurodegeneration research

Enabling access to essential technologies and skills

A 3d rendering of a lipid nanoparticle, complex medicines as new modalities

Leading the conversation for drug discovery sector

computer-generated image of a double helix used to help tell the stories of diseases and drug data for medicine discovery

























Advising and supporting innovators, investing in exceptional UK science

We can support you with our R&D consultancy, Collaborative R&D services, and grant support.

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Latest news and events

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News, blogs, events, reports and more. Our latest press releases, media appearances, events and news commentary.




Events
04 October 2025
EANM 2025







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Partner with us and make sure your next move counts

See how we can help support you with your next drug discovery project.

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