Biotechnology · Case study

Research allowance for biotech: lab automation as an R&D case.

Practical example based on real projects · anonymised, figures rounded · Last updated: 24 September 2026

A biotech company funded a fully automated system for cell cultivation, mechanics, control and biology in one project, on an eligible base over €1.3 million.

€325,000

research allowance granted

€1.3M

eligible base

25%

funding rate

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At a glance

The mandate in figures

IndustryBiotechnologyLab automation, cell cultivation

Research allowance granted€325,000Fully claimable, credited against tax, surplus refunded

Eligible base€1.3M

ScenarioCleanly certified

Projects1

Funding rate25%

About the company

The company, and the R&D underneath

The company develops a system that fully automates a previously highly manual, error-prone lab process: the passaging and cultivation of cells. This is not just a mechanical-engineering problem. Living cells react sensitively to handling, timing and environment. A system that automates this biological process reliably, reproducibly and gently must master mechanics, control and biological requirements at once.

The scientific-technical uncertainty lies precisely in this interlocking, and with it the funding core.

The challenge

Where the funding really sat

Interdisciplinary projects have a typical weakness in the application: they fray. Placing mechanics, software and biology side by side without naming the common technical core loses the review. The question is not whether each individual discipline is standard, but whether their integration into a reliably functioning system was tied to an open outcome.

Second task: here too a part was developed externally. The eligibility of this contract research had to be secured.

Novelty Technical risk / uncertainty Systematic approach

Our approach

How we built the case

We built the project around its integrative core: the reliable, reproducible and cell-gentle automation of a sensitive biological process. We located the technical uncertainty at this interface, not in the individual disciplines but in their interplay. The solution path was presented as a causal chain with intermediate results, with concrete requirements for reproducibility and cell compatibility.

Where external partners solved an independent technical problem, we classified the contract research as eligible and separated it from mere supply. The project was cleanly certified.

How the case moved

↻

Integrative core

Mechanics, control, biology

↻

Documented

Reproducibility as yardstick

✓

Certified

Cleanly granted

What made up the eligible base

In-house ~70%Contract research ~30%

In-house personnel workContract research (recognised)

Eligible base over €1.3 million from in-house work plus recognised contract research. Split shown is illustrative.

The result

A €325,000 research allowance.

The eligible base is in the order of magnitude of over €1.3 million, from in-house work and recognised contract research. At the 25% rate applicable to the fiscal years in question, this yields a research allowance in the mid six-figure range. For a biotech company, this is an important, non-repayable financing contribution in a capital-intensive development phase.

Eligible base €1.3M · SME rate 25%

Cleanly certifiedThe outcome of the mandate.

Eligible base €1.3MRecognised cost the allowance is calculated on.

SME rate 25%Applied to the eligible base.

Key takeaways

What other companies can learn

Interdisciplinary life-science development is a strong funding case, if the common core is right. Three points are decisive:

01

Name the integrative core

In projects spanning mechanics, software and biology, the risk usually lies in the interplay. The application must put exactly that at the centre, not the individual disciplines.

02

Reproducibility as the yardstick

Especially in biology, the application convinces through concrete requirements for reproducibility, stability and the gentle handling of living systems.

03

Cleanly delineate contract research

Where external partners solve an independent technical problem, the work is eligible, if it is commissioned result-oriented and presented as such.

More on Research Allowance: The guide Research Allowance: requirements, rates and application explains the programme step by step. How we support your project is covered under Research Allowance consulting.

“

Biotechnology and lab automation combine several disciplines, mechanics, control, biology, and exactly this combination is often the funding core.

BeFunded On the research allowance

FAQ

Research Allowance: your questions

The most common questions on this kind of case. Short answer first, detail after.

Yes, if automating a process is tied to genuine technical uncertainty, such as the reliable, reproducible automation of sensitive biological sequences. Merely integrating standard components without open risk is not.

Yes. What matters is that the common technical core, often the interplay of the disciplines, carries the scientific-technical uncertainty and is clearly worked out in the application.

Yes, if a new or substantially improved device or process is developed with an open outcome. Experimental development up to the functional prototype is eligible.

The increased SME rate of 35% applies only to costs incurred after 27 March 2024. Earlier costs are funded at the basic rate of 25%.

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