Life sciences and biotech
Over 750 life sciences organisations employ more than 39,000 people, making Scotland one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe.
Top for clinical trials
Scotland is a preferred international site for clinical trials for two of the world’s top CROs, Quintiles and PPD
£56 million innovation centre
Scotland's new £56 million industry-led Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is a world-first.
£50 million venture capital fund
£50 million venture capital fund, led by Epidarex Capital, for early stage, high growth, life science and health technology companies
GSK continues to invest in Scotland
Scotland is home to a thriving biocluster, providing the ideal environment for innovation and company growth. Between its two sites, in Montrose and Irvine, global pharmaceutical company, GSK has a 100 years of manufacturing experience in Scotland.
Watch our video with Dave Tudor of GSK explain why Scotland is a competitive place to manufacture for life and chemical sciences organisations:
World-first for Scotland
A new £56 million UK innovation centre to be based in Scotland, will revolutionise how medicines are manufactured and speed up the process of bringing new drugs to market. It aims to attract more than £80 million in research and development (R&D) investment by 2028.
The new industry-led Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), to be based just outside Glasgow, will offer pharma companies, from start-ups through to multinational organisations, a unique service to develop and adopt novel manufacturing techniques to adapt into their own manufacturing processes.
By transforming processes and technologies, the speed of bringing new drugs to market could improve drastically.
Launch of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC)
“There is no other facility like this in the world and is a fantastic endorsement of Scotland as an ideal place to invest in global excellence in high value manufacturing drawing on our skills, innovative companies and academic expertise.”
Linda Hanna, managing director of strategy and sectors, Scottish Enterprise
Centres of excellence
Biocluster sites in Scotland include:
We also have innovation centres covering:
Work in a collaborative environment
Scotland’s unified healthcare provider, the NHS, works closely with industry and academia, supported by the dedicated cross-party organisation, LISAB.
The NHS provides coordinated access to clinical investigators and patients through single point of contact for industry, accessible clinical research support infrastructures, and streamlined and timely clinical trial approvals.
“People tell us that there are not many places in the world where you can come and actually work with academics from universities and the NHS.”
Chris Packard, research and development director, NHS Scotland
A prime site for clinical trials
Scotland's strengths include:
- Patient identification, from cradle to grave
- Strong collaboration across NHS, academia, government and industry
- Globally competitive trial recruitment and start-up times
- Bio-banking resource unrivalled in Europe (Generation Scotland)
- Globally recognised electronic health record system
- Home to world’s top medical schools focusing on translational medicine
- Phase I, II and III clinical trials, post-market surveillance, biostatistics, regulatory compliance, data management and study monitoring
- Fast permission times of around 3 weeks for commercial projects and just under 2 weeks for non-commercial projects
Sectors
Scotland has the edge when it comes to medtech opportunities. Tap into our talented workforce with expertise in everything from non-imaging diagnostics and surgical instruments to ophthalmic surgery and cardiovascular therapies.
Scotland is home to many companies that have launched global health innovations. Come join them.
One of Europe's fastest-growing medtech firms
Optos, a Scottish producer of retinal imaging devices is one of Europe's fastest-growing medtech company over the past five years.
Thanks to our support, the company now sells its eye testing devices worldwide and sees significant opportunities in Middle East and South America for disease detection in diabetes.
We help ambitious companies like Optos succeed and grow. Let us help you.
"You have friendly, well-educated, hard-working people, a beautiful environment and a local investor base that has a long history of backing risk...what more could you want?"
Douglas Anderson, founder, Optos
Our world-class facilities, clinical trials expertise and comprehensive supply chain make Scotland the ideal location for clinical/pre-clinical research and drug manufacture.
Scotland has a history of drug discovery excellence and is home to over 150 pharma services and supply companies, including global leaders such as Charles River Laboratories, Quintiles and Encap Capsugel, and young, innovative companies with cutting-edge technologies such as Clyde Biosciences and Biopta. Come join them.
Reduce costs and time to bring your drug to market
Scotland is the ideal location to outsource preclinical and/or clinical research, find drug manufacture and formulation expertise and get easy access to a comprehensive supply chain.
6 reasons why Scotland is the place for pharma services
- Drug development outsourcing across the supply chain
- Safe, effective and timely clinical trials history
- Collaborative working between academia, the Scottish Government and the National Health Service
- University excellence in drug discovery and development
- Easy access to patients and medical records
- A history of drug discovery excellence
Scotland is one of Europe’s top locations for the development of stem cell technologies, thanks to our expertise in cell therapy clinical trials and integrated academic, clinical and commercial infrastructure.
Scotland's companies are tackling some of the cell therapy industries’ most challenging issues - find out how you can work with them.
Why choose Scotland for clinical trials?
12 reasons to invest
- Proven track record in supporting and implementing cell therapy clinical trials
- World class MHRA-accredited GMP ATMP manufacturing facilities
- Single point of access to clinical and research expertise
- Fast and efficient identification and coordination of multi-centre clinical research
- Cost effective logistic solutions to at least 27 major European cities within 24 hours
- Growing commercial landscape across the supply chain
- Gateway to European markets
- Highly competitive funding environment
- Research-grade iPS cell manufacturing
- Single national database of 5.3 million patient records enabling rapid clinical trial recruitment
- One of Europe’s largest and most highly regarded stem cell research hubs at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine
- Excellent availability of a technically trained workforce for this sector
"Thanks to the outstanding collaboration across NHS, academia, government and industry, Roslin Cells has been able to accelerate the expansion of its cell therapy manufacturing facilities based in the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine."
Aiden Courtney, CEO, Roslin Cells
Animal health and aquaculture
Scotland's natural resources and research expertise create the perfect environment for bioscience and aquaculture studies and commercial opportunities.
We're experts in everything from sustainable fisheries and animal behaviour to breeding and pathophysiology. Come work with us.
Find the right partners
Our searchable company directory allows you to find all that you need to develop, test and get your product/service to market in Scotland and internationally.
You might also be interested in
5 reasons why Scotland is now
Scotland has access to the best talent, investment opportunities, and work life balance.
Financial and tax incentives
We help companies attract investment, research, development funding and tax incentive schemes.
Our people and skills
Access an exceptionally well educated, skilled and talented workforce.
If you have any questions or want to talk with one of our advisers, we're always ready to help.