DHSC seeking £20m tech partnerships to tackle addiction

Tech innovators across the UK are being offered up to £20 million in government funding to develop new medicines, medical technologies and digital tools aimed at reducing harm and deaths linked to drug and alcohol addiction.

The funding, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, will be delivered through Innovate UK as part of the Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG) programme led by the Office for Life Sciences.

According to government figures, around 15,000 people die each year in the UK due to alcohol and drugs. Hundreds of thousands more are affected by substance misuse, with the wider societal cost in England estimated at £47bn annually.

The AHG Catalysing Innovation Awards will support projects developing medicines, medical devices and digital interventions, including wearable technologies, artificial intelligence-enabled tools, virtual reality therapies and treatment applications. The programme is intended to improve treatment outcomes, prevent relapse and reduce the risk of overdose and death.

Health Minister Dr Zubir Ahmed said the funding would support the government’s wider work on addiction, including expanding access to treatment and recovery services. Science Minister Lord Vallance said backing both early- and late-stage innovations would help create a pathway from research to real-world impact while supporting UK life sciences companies.

The competition includes two funding strands. The first offers awards of up to £10 million for later-stage, high-impact projects that can demonstrate real-world effectiveness, readiness for the UK market and progress towards regulatory approval. These projects are expected to be close to deployment within health and care services.

A second strand will provide up to £1.5 million for earlier-stage innovations. This funding is designed to help organisations demonstrate initial effectiveness, strengthen commercial planning and progress towards further investment or deployment.

Successful applicants will also receive access to an education session delivered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The session will focus on regulatory and evidence requirements to support certification, approval and adoption within UK services.

Applications opened on 16 February 2026 and close on 6 May 2026. More information can be found here