Fast Facts: UK Life Sciences

The UK Life Sciences sector is renowned around the world for outstanding partnership, connectivity and opportunity, which creates world leading innovation and creativity to fuel commercial success.

With a track record in cutting-edge research, the UK Life Sciences industry is renowned for developing innovative and effective solutions for global and local health issues, bringing together funding from private and public sources to accelerate the flow of innovation and create routes to market through scientific and business collaboration.

The UK Life Sciences sector makes an incredible contribution to the UK’s economic success and will continue to be a leading industry bringing innovation to the world. The UK remains a world-class trading partner in Life Sciences, and a leading investment location for Life Sciences businesses.

The Government announced its Life Sciences Strategy, building on the UK’s reputation as a world-leader in life sciences. The strategy included £180 million to support medical breakthroughs.

The Government also announced a £75 million package to boost innovation and research in the UK.

Fast Facts

• Comprising cutting-edge industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medical technologies, the UK attracts almost 10% of the world’s pharmaceutical R&D funding, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, and is acknowledged as the gateway to Europe.
  
  
• UK scientists are some of the best in the world, winning 76 Nobel prizes for their scientific achievements.
  
  
• The UK continues to benefit from a globally admired Life Sciences regulatory regime, with two internationally recognised product approval agencies being based in the UK.
  
  
• The UK continues to produce the highest number of science, mathematics and computing graduates annually in the EU and offers two of the world’s top three universities in Life Sciences and biomedicine.
  
  
• The UK Life Sciences industry spends almost £4.4bn on R&D in the UK each year.
  
  
• The UK medical technology sector alone has over 3,100 companies generating £15bn turnover and employing some 64,000 people, producing a diverse range of products from position emission tomography for advanced imaging and diagnosis to surgical gowns and instruments.
  
  
• The four largest segments of the medical technology sector are single use technology, orthopaedic devices, professional services and wound care and management, with a combined  turnover of almost £5bn.
  
  
• The UK has a total of 388 pharmaceutical sites owned by 365 companies, employing 77,795 people with a combined turnover of £31.8bn.
  
  
• Of the Top 50 global pharmaceutical companies ranked by Evaluatepharma, 37 have sites in the UK and employ 52,000 staff at 60 sites and represent 83% of the total sector turnover.
  
  
• The UK industrial biotechnology sector consists of 73 companies with a turnover of £379m and employing 1280 people. The biofuels and specialist services segments make up 62% of all companies in this sector.