The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced on Tuesday 14 April 2026 more than £80 million of new company investment in UK medicines manufacturing, backed by the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF). Ministers said the three projects take 2026 life sciences investment to £600 million and will support over 500 jobs across sites from Birmingham to Barnstaple, aligned to the government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan. (gov.uk)
Project details released by DSIT point to over £45 million from Accord for Barnstaple to expand production, including treatments used in bipolar disorder, with the company citing a role in supplying 9% of all NHS medicines. The University of Birmingham’s Precision Health Technologies Accelerator will invest £10 million in a near‑patient biomanufacturing facility to speed clinical production of vaccines and advanced therapies, while Codis will build a spray‑drying facility in Haverhill, creating 29 new roles and safeguarding 160, including the UK’s only commercial‑scale solvent‑capable GEA PSD‑4 line. (gov.uk)
How LSIMF works. LSIMF is a capital grant scheme now budgeted at up to £520 million for 2025/26 to 2029/30, aimed at manufacturing of human medicines, diagnostics and MedTech. Scheme documents indicate an intervention rate typically in the 10–20% range, capped at 25%, with eligible projects normally at £8 million total cost or above. Awards are made to UK‑registered private companies following staged assessment and due diligence. (gov.uk)
Officials linked today’s announcements to a UK‑US arrangement finalised earlier this month that makes the UK, for at least three years, the first country to secure a 0% tariff rate on pharmaceuticals exported to the United States. Government communications say this is intended to improve the investment case for UK‑based production and export of medicines. (gov.uk)
According to a December 2025 statement from the United States Trade Representative, the tariff outcome sits alongside UK commitments on branded medicines policy, including capping the VPAG repayment rate at 15% in 2026, while the US exempts UK‑origin pharmaceuticals, ingredients and medical technology from new import taxes for the period specified. (ustr.gov)
Alongside LSIMF, government confirmed a new Life Sciences Large Investment Portfolio (LSLIP) to attract portfolios of £250 million or more into UK manufacturing and R&D. The Subsidy Advice Unit’s published material states LSLIP has an estimated budget of up to £570 million to March 2030, with individual grants up to £130 million, and will operate a streamlined support model; DSIT adds that pilot regional support has already run in Liverpool and Manchester. (gov.uk)
An accompanying government‑commissioned evaluation by Ipsos, published today, reports that projects supported by LSIMF and its predecessor (the Medicines and Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund) between 2021 and 2023 helped attract £12 of private capital for every £1 of grant, with early evidence of contribution to health‑resilience goals such as onshoring critical ingredients and sterile capacity. (gov.uk)
For firms considering applications, programme documents emphasise co‑investment and financial guarantees, with staged assessments via an expression‑of‑interest and full bid. The Ipsos report notes process improvements from the pilot to LSIMF but also highlights burdens in due diligence and monitoring for some applicants-points that prospective bidders should factor into timelines and financing plans. (gov.uk)
Regionally, today’s investments reinforce activity in North Devon, the Midlands and Suffolk. Officials frame these as strengthening domestic supply and shortening the route from lab to patient-through near‑patient facilities in Birmingham and high‑throughput processes in Haverhill-while adding capacity at a major oncology and generics supplier in Barnstaple. (gov.uk)
Government states the LSIMF pipeline is on course to reach around £1 billion of investment by the summer, subject to final agreement of terms. With the UK‑US zero‑tariff arrangement in place for a time‑limited period, boards planning export‑facing capacity have a clearer tariff position to model alongside LSIMF or LSLIP support parameters. (gov.uk)