The top grantees of Wellcome

Wellcome has been distributing grants for more than 80 years. Over the past 10 years, it has provided £11.8 billion in grants to various health initiatives worldwide. The organization is primarily a health funder, and while much of its work is focused on supporting research in universities in the global north, its most recent strategy, published in 2022, places a greater emphasis on funding to tackle global health challenges. In that strategy, Wellcome announced that it would allocate £16 billion toward various research activities addressing urgent health matters until 2032. Investment returns are the main source of grantmaking funds, and Wellcome currently has a £37.6 billion investment portfolio. Wellcome primarily funds applicants based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, applicants from low- or middle-income countries are highly encouraged to apply. Funding opportunities are posted on its website and on our Devex Funding Platform. These are Wellcome’s main focus areas: • Climate and health. • Infectious disease. • Mental health. • Discovery research — these are grants for research-intensive and innovative projects that will benefit health and well-being. • Wellcome Collection — a visual and literary collection of the past and future of health. For this analysis, we will look at Wellcome’s grantmaking over the past five financial years. Devex used Wellcome’s available grantmaking data and converted the figures into 2024 constant prices. Where does the money go? Over the past five years, Wellcome has been relatively consistent in its grantmaking, totaling £6.2 billion. There is a slight decline in funding starting from the 2021/22 financial year, with £1.6 billion, which decreased to £964.7 million in FY 2023/24. Of the 3,479 grants given by Wellcome, the majority, amounting to £5.8 billion, was awarded to institutions and organizations headquartered in the global north. Global south awardees only received 251 grants worth £486.9 million. Organizations based in the United Kingdom received the most money, with £4.1 billion. This is followed by organizations in the United States with £1.1 billion, Norway with £166.6 million, South Africa with £119.3 million, and Switzerland with £114.3 million. Who are the top grantees? In this section, we will examine the top grantees overall, which include organizations and institutions based in donor countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. We further refined the data by looking at grants that are related to Wellcome’s core development causes: infectious diseases and climate change. 1. University of Oxford The first in this list is the University of Oxford. It received a whopping 93 grants amounting to £200.3 million. The largest of these amounted to £54.5 million to fund the Thailand Africa and Asia Programme. The program is focused on conducting research on infectious diseases in the regions and has been ongoing for 40 years. 2. University College London UCL received 27 awards worth £133.7 million. The largest of these amounted to £76.5 million for the replenishment of the Africa Health Research Institute. The grant will be used to continue research on emerging and neglected infections in South Africa and globally. 3. Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations CEPI received two awards worth £126.6 million. The largest of which amounted to £121.6 million to prepare for known epidemics and pandemic threats through vaccine development. 4. Boston University Boston University also received two awards, amounting to £72.7 million. The largest of these was a £70.1 million award to build and accelerate the development of a diverse portfolio of antibacterial projects. 5. AMR Action Fund GP, LLC The AMR Action Fund received only one award, which amounted to nearly £60 million. It will use the grant to address technical barriers that antibiotic developers face in making treatments more available to patients. Who are the top grantees from the global south? In this section, we filtered the data to include institutions or organizations that are headquartered in the global south. 1. Science for Africa Foundation The SFA Foundation is a Pan-African, charitable organization headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. It was created to support science and technology in the region. It has the goal of promoting science and innovation to address Africa’s development challenges. It received six awards worth £75.9 million. The largest of these amounted to £64.5 million to fund the Developing Excellence in Leadership Training and Science in Africa, or DELTAS Africa, program. 2. University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town received 27 grants worth £49.5 million. The largest of these amounted to £9.7 million to support the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, or CIDRI-Africa. 3. Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization SEAMEO is a regional, intergovernmental organization that promotes regional cooperation in education, science, and culture within Southeast Asia. Its headquarters are currently located in Bangkok, Thailand. It received one grant worth £46.1 million to support the Developing Research Excellence and Mentorship in Southeast Asia, or SEA DREAM, program. The program will encourage research that addresses existing health priorities and issues within the region. 4. Wellcome/DBT India Alliance The India Alliance is a partnership between the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Biotechnology, the Indian government, and Wellcome. This organization primarily focuses on biomedical research concerning India. It received one award worth nearly £45 million for grantmaking support. 5. Hilleman Laboratories Singapore Pte Ltd Hilleman Laboratories is an organization that aims to develop affordable vaccines and biologics against infectious diseases. Its primary targets are infectious diseases that are prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. It was formed through a joint venture between Wellcome and MSD. It received one award worth nearly £28 million for its business plan for the next five financial years. 6. National University of Singapore NUS is a public research university based in Singapore. It received seven awards, totaling £21.7 million. The largest of these was a £13.4 million grant to support the second phase of clinical trials to combat antimicrobial resistance. 7. Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd Wits Health Consortium is a company owned by the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. This company allows the university health faculty to conduct research. It received 10 awards, amounting to £19.6 million. The largest of these was a £5.5 million grant to support research and trial on combination antifungal therapy for candida bloodstream infections, or COMBAT Candida. 8. Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Programme The Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Programme is primarily funded by Wellcome. It is a research facility that provides results to influence international health policies. It received 16 awards worth £14.4 million. The largest of these amounted to £2.5 million to fund a platform for immunological characterization of the COVID-19 virus variants in the eastern African region. 9. African Population and Health Research Center APHRC is a research-to-policy institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. It engages in policy creation to inform action on health and development. It received eight grants worth £12.1 million. The biggest of these amounted to £5.2 million to fund the Data Science Without Borders, or DSWB, project. 10. Africa Health Research Institute AHRI is a scientific institute based in South Africa that trains African scientists. It uses a combination of different sciences in order to understand and intervene in the health and well-being of South African communities. It received seven grants worth £10.8 million. The largest of these was a £3.6 million grant to research adaptive responses to COVID-19 variants in the context of hybrid immunity and immune impairment. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.