UK life sciences businesses secured funding of $7.5bn last year – a significant increase on the $4.6bn received in 2022, according to Carter Jonas’ latest Life Sciences Research Report.
Businesses located in the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Cambridge, Oxford and London, secured a combined total of $6.5bn in 2023, with Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh attracting the largest share of the regional clusters.
Despite the boom in fundraising activity, take-up by life sciences companies decreased in 2023, due to the scarcity of high-quality lab spaces, according to Carter Jonas.
Matt Lee, head of science and technology at Carter Jonas, said: “The shortage of lab space has driven development efforts across the key life sciences hubs, with significant projects underway not only in Oxford, Cambridge and London but also across a number of regional cities. Just under 1m sq ft of life science product is underway in Oxford, nearly 550,000 sq ft in Cambridge and around 3m sq ft in London. Whilst most schemes will not be completed until 2025-26, pre-letting activity is likely to increase.”
Investment volumes also fell last year due to a number of different factors. “Although investment activity decreased in 2023, this was influenced by successive interest rate hikes and pricing strategies,” said Lee. “Additionally, the record levels of activity over the past few years saw many global life science developers working to advance schemes through the design and planning stages. Despite this, innovation remains a key focus, and the UK’s life sciences sector is well-positioned for growth with a positive outlook for the future.
“The sector’s resilience, and government support make it an attractive destination for investors and companies. Alongside the leading clusters, other key hubs across the country, including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle, are strategically positioned to benefit from these opportunities.”
