UK Business Information / Biosciences and Healthcare
The UK is without doubt a world-leader when it comes to biotechnology and healthcare. Every one of the world's top pharmaceutical companies has major R&D developments in the UK and one in four of the world's top 100 medicines was created in the UK.
The UK's success in biotechnology and healthcare stems from its academic institutions. Notably Cambridge, which ranks in the world's top four universities, but also from Nottingham, and bioscience clusters in London and the South East.
East of England
The East of England is the UK's leading region for biosciences. With 256 biotech companies, 100 medical technology companies and 370 service companies supporting the life sciences sector, this region is home to the most mature and successful cluster of biotechnology and life sciences companies in Europe.
Almost all of that success stems from Cambridge University and its environs. 25% of Europe's biotechnology companies operate out of the Greater Cambridge area, although the nearby Norwich Research Park is also one of Europe’s largest sites of biotechnology research.
Greater Cambridge attracted 18% of all UK Venture Investment in 2007 and spin-outs from Cambridge University attracted more venture capital than spin-outs from any other university. This area really is at the vanguard of bioscience R&D in the UK and Europe.
Success stories include Solexa, the high-throughput DNA sequencing Cambridge University spin-out, bought by US giant Illumina for £341 million. Genzyme also chose the UK for its first discovery laboratory outside the UK. Recent breakthroughs by university spin-outs include Horizon Discovery's 'Model Cancer Patient', which finds what cancer treatments patients are most likely to respond to.
Nottingham
Nottingham is another hotbed of bioscience innovation in the UK. BioCity Nottingham is the UK's largest bioscience incubator, home to 60 companies employing over 500 people. Businesses based in BioCity are able to access a range of services including networks, funding advice and legal support.
BioCity, in partnership with Nottingham council, recently launched the Mobius Life Sciences Fund, the first investment fund in the East Midlands focused solely on life sciences.
Nottingham has two science parks and a third is planned to be built. Nottingham Science park and the University of Nottingham Innovation Park both have state-of-the art equipment and resources, enabling companies to coduct groundbreaking research.
Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University both house leading research centres, specialising in areas such as immunology, cancer research, regenerative medicine and clinical medicine. In partnership with Edinburgh University, Nottingham University has made world-beating breakthroughs in tissue-scaffolding techniques.
London and the South East
The South East is home to 25% of the European biotechnology industry. London contains a cluster of 100 interlinked biotech businesses, 28 Universities and five renowned medical schools.
UCL Partners is a new collaborative project between five of the UK's leading medical research centres and hospitals, making it Europe's largest health science partnership. Its focus is on the prevention and treatment of major diseases that affect populations worldwide.
Among the success stories in London are Xenetic, a London University spin-out which has created efficacy enhancing delivery solutions for drugs and vaccines, and Ask Therapeutics, a company developing gene-based therapies for vascular disorders.
Also, NovaThera, a spin-out from Imperial College London, has developed a nanoglass textile material for complex surgical and new regenerative medicine applications.
