The Childhood Cancer Therapeutic Catalyst accelerates the translation of promising cancer discoveries into novel therapies for children and young people. The scheme is designed to de-risk early therapeutic opportunities so that successful projects are positioned for subsequent drug discovery, investment, external funding, or partnering.
Funded projects are developed collaboratively between academic investigators and the Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Innovation team, combining academic expertise with specialist drug-discovery capabilities. Applications are welcomed across all childhood cancer indications and therapeutic modalities, and the program is open to researchers worldwide.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Applicants must be academic researchers based at a university or research institute anywhere in the world.
- The scheme is explicitly open to international applications.
- Projects must have strong potential to deliver novel therapeutics for children and young people with cancer.
- Applications may address any childhood cancer indication and therapeutic modality.
- Projects should represent early drug-discovery opportunities rather than fundamental cancer biology or later-stage clinical development.
- Funded projects are expected to be collaborative, combining the applicant laboratory’s expertise with Cancer Research Horizons’ Therapeutic Innovation capabilities.
Funding Details:
- Maximum funding: Up to £250,000 per project.
- Maximum duration: 18 months.
- Projects are expected to include defined development milestones and decision points.
Deadline:
- Applications are reviewed twice per year, with review rounds in April and October.
- Cancer Research UK currently states that upcoming submission deadlines are to be announced.
- An Expression of Interest must be submitted before an applicant can progress to the full-proposal stage.
- Current status: Open for Expressions of Interest.
Further Information:
- Official program information and application details: Visit the Childhood Cancer Therapeutic Catalyst official page for current eligibility requirements, funding details, scientific remit, review criteria, and deadlines.
- Cancer Research Horizons funding portfolio: Explore Cancer Research Horizons funding opportunities for the Childhood Cancer Therapeutic Catalyst and other translational funding programs.
- Cancer Research KI partnership information: Researchers can review the Cancer Research KI Childhood Cancer Therapeutic Catalyst page for additional information about the program and Cancer Research Horizons collaboration.
- Application portal: Expressions of Interest are submitted through the Cancer Research UK Flexi-Grant funding system. Successful applicants are then invited to prepare a full proposal.
- Program contact: Researchers are encouraged to discuss potential projects before applying by contacting the Therapeutic Catalyst team at therapeutic.catalyst@cancer.org.uk.