Wellcome Annual Report 2023/24: Big bets and bold partnerships in science key to unlocking healthier future

Wellcome reported a charitable spend of £1.6bn in scientific research and an investment portfolio valued at £37.6bn in its annual results for 2023/24.

Julia Gillard, chair of Wellcome’s board of governors, said: “This year, impacts from Wellcome’s work include a new treatment for schizophrenia, the first ever vaccine for the infectious disease chikungunya, and our new funding scheme for researchers from under-represented backgrounds in UK research to progress their careers.  

“Advances made by researchers we fund – and which we hope will have health impact in years to come – include insights into liver regeneration, drivers of autoimmune diseases, and a neural map of an adult fly’s brain which will help unlock new knowledge about how our own brains work.  

“We are well on track with our plan to spend £16 billion between 2022 and 2032 on supporting science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.”

The report comes at the end of John-Arne Røttingen’s first year as Wellcome’s chief executive, after taking over from interim CEO Paul Schreier in January 2023.

Wellcome’s successes are characterised by partnerships across philanthropy, public and private sectors to support science and protect the health of disadvantaged groups. Milestones include:  

• Cobenfy, the first new pharmacological approach to treating schizophrenia in 50 years, was approved by the FDA. Wellcome played a key role in funding early trials of the therapy, de-risking investment at an early stage making it possible for commercial investors to follow
• The first-ever vaccine against chikungunya, a debilitating mosquito-borne viral disease, gained approval. This achievement was supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, co-founded by Wellcome and partners in 2017
• Wellcome worked with partners to make a strong case for the establishment of the first Health Day at COP28, which marked a significant milestone in embedding health considerations into global climate action.
• In the 1990s, Wellcome funded a UCL study which discovered that blocking NaV1.8, an unusual sodium channel found on damage-sensing nerves, can stop pain. In 2024, an NaV1.8 inhibitor developed by Vertex completed phase three trials as a non-opioid treatment for acute pain – meaning it has potential to be the first new class of pain medicine in more than two decades.
• Advances at Wellcome Sanger Institute, a global hub for genomics research, included: establishing the most comprehensive timeline to-date of how the immune system responds to infection by the virus that causes Covid-19 and, through the Human Cell Atlas project, mapping of the endometrium, uncovering knowledge that could help to understand and possibly treat conditions such as endometriosis.  
• Wellcome Leap, a US nonprofit subsidiary of Wellcome, builds unconventional research programmes and funds them at scale. In just four years, Wellcome Leap has created the largest, most rapidly ‘activatable’ health research network in the world, with around 150 world-class institutions, non-profits and commercial entities representing a network of over 1.5mn scientists and engineers across six continents.

John-Arne Røttingen said: “Collaboration across sectors has brought about incredible progress in health across the world. But we can't solve the urgent health challenges we continue to face without many further advances in science. Ambitious partnerships across philanthropy, public and private sectors are the way to achieve rapid scientific progress, as well as to help ensure everyone can benefit from the new discoveries that investment in science brings.

“Since becoming chief executive of Wellcome, I’ve focused on expanding our partnerships. As an independent charitable foundation, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our influence and our financial resource to advance science and global health, ensuring equitable progress. Success in our mission depends on it.”

Wellcome’s investment portfolio generates the returns needed to fund its charitable spending. The charitable foundation supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing – and is taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.  

The latest annual report details Wellcome’s charitable spend across support across its discovery and solutions programmes, including:

• £910 million to support discovery research projects, aimed at transforming our understanding of life, health and wellbeing across a range of perspectives and contexts  
• £90 million for research projects in mental health with the potential to drive a step-change in early interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis  
• £131 million to advance evidence of the links between climate change and health, and ensuring this intersection is at the heart of climate action
• £181 million for research to reduce the risks and impacts of infectious disease  
• £132 million for Wellcome Leap, which aims to accelerate discovery and innovation for the benefit of human health

The charitable spend of £1.6bn is consistent with Wellcome’s plan to allocate £16bn over the decade to 2032. The figure is a slight decrease from £1.7bn in 2022/2023, as that was a year during which several major multi-year commitments were renewed or initiated. The investment portfolio rose in value after to £37.6bn from £36.8bn the previous year..  

Julia Gillard added: “Wellcome is fortunate to have an investment portfolio of a scale that enables us to be completely independent and globally relevant. The portfolio has successfully weathered a challenging period of high inflation, rising interest rates and market volatility. The team deserves credit for thinking long-term and protecting our strong financial position. This leaves us well placed to move confidently forward with our charitable mission to benefit from science’s potential to improve health and save lives.”

Partnerships pave the way for progress

Partnerships formed in the last year included the launch of the Coalition for Mental Health Investment, co-founded by African Venture Philanthropy Alliance, Clinton Global Initiative, Kokoro, McKinsey Health Institute and Wellcome. The coalition aims to convince potential private and philanthropic investors that now is the time to commit to mental health, and to support research-based interventions to reach the scale needed for global impact.

A new $300mn agreement with the Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation was also launched, pooling resources to address climate and health, infectious disease, and the interplay of immunity, development, and disease.

Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection welcomed 480,000 visitors in 2023/2024 – a 25% year-on-year increase. The Cult of Beauty exhibition drew 840 visitors daily and became one of the museum’s most popular showcases since its opening in 2007. The Wellcome Collection Non-fiction Awards, launched in September in partnership with Spread the Word, will support up to six underrepresented writers to transform their bold ideas on health and humanity into full-length book proposals. The nine-month programme aims to empower disabled, Deaf, neurodivergent, and racially minoritised writers, and will select the successful writers in February of 2025.  

Looking ahead

Wellcome remains committed to driving transformative change in global health, forging bold new partnerships, and supporting innovative solutions that ensure a healthier, more equitable future for all.  

The end of March 2025 will see Nick Moakes retire as Wellcome’s Chief Investment Officer after 17 years of outstanding service. From 1 April 2025, Lisha Patel and Fabian Thehos will lead the team as managing partners and co-chief investment officers.

Nick Moakes said: “Wellcome is in an excellent financial position to fund the vital work of our mission. Returns are at all-time highs, and we have ample liquidity to take advantage of any opportunities market volatility might produce.  

“We have a wonderful global investment network, without whom we could not have delivered these long-term returns. Our internal investment team is strong and stable. The succession plan for our investment team has been carefully planned, market tested, and is now well underway. It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this team, and I am confident that I will leave it in highly capable hands when I step down in March.”