SR&ED for biotechnology
Biotech is close to the archetype SR&ED was written for: hypothesis-driven work with genuinely uncertain outcomes. The claim usually isn't hard to justify — the challenge is capturing the evidence and separating the eligible experimentation from routine testing.
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Where the eligible work usually is
- Developing or optimizing an assay, process or formulation where the biological outcome couldn't be predicted.
- Scaling a result from bench to pilot where the scale-up itself introduced unknowns.
- Working around a technological limitation — yield, stability, purity, reproducibility — with no established solution.
- Systematic experiments whose results advanced understanding, including the ones that didn't work.
What usually doesn't qualify
Routine testing to a known standard, standard analytical work, regulatory or clinical activities that don't resolve a technological uncertainty, and production the established way generally aren't SR&ED. The eligible line is the experimental development, not the confirmation or the compliance around it.
Evidence from the lab
Biotech runs on records: lab notebooks, assay results, protocols and their revisions, batch records, and analytical data. Upload them and SREDlog reads and organizes them against the project, keeping each claimed cost tied to the experiment that supports it — the traceability a review will test.
Frequently asked questions
Usually not in themselves — much clinical and regulatory work doesn't resolve a technological uncertainty. Earlier experimental development that does can be eligible; the boundary matters and is worth confirming with an advisor.
No. Standard testing to a known method or standard isn't SR&ED. Experimental work to develop a new assay, process or formulation under uncertainty can be.
Lab notebooks, protocols, batch records and analytical results are strong contemporaneous evidence. See documentation requirements.
Turn lab work into a defensible claim
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This guide is general information, not tax advice. SR&ED rules, rates and limits change, so confirm the current figures with the CRA or your advisor before you file.