Life sciences and biotech
With more than 770 life sciences organisations employing more than 41,000 people, Scotland is one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe. From global pharmaceutical companies to medical biotechnology startups, we’ve got the networks, support and skills you need to succeed.
7% growth each year
On track to reach a turnover of £8bn by 2025.
£56 million innovation centre
The industry-led Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is a world-first.
£50 million venture capital fund
Led by Epidarex Capital for early stage, high growth, life science and health technology companies.
Life sciences snapshot
Scotland’s exciting life sciences sector covers everything from agritech and aquaculture, to medical devices and diagnostics, clinical applications, pharmaceutical services and healthcare.
The sector contributes £2.4 billion gross value added to the Scottish economy and has seen 7% growth each year since 2010.
A strong collaboration across industry, the NHS (Scotland’s unified healthcare provider), universities and government makes Scotland a truly unique place for the life sciences sector. We have a strong track record of successful, efficient and safe clinical trials and have a number of innovation centres and centres of excellence to support businesses.
Opportunities in life sciences in Scotland (PDF, 2MB)
Opportunities in medical technologies and diagnostics in Scotland (PDF, 744kB)
Opportunities in digital health and care in Scotland (PDF, 3MB)
Work in a collaborative environment
Thanks to the close relationship with the NHS, companies in Scotland enjoy coordinated access to clinical investigators and patients through a single point of contact.
The Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group (LSS ILG) also help to facilitate collaboration by helping government policy-makers work with the industry to make sure Scotland remains an attractive place for companies in the life sciences sector.
“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
Our skills and expertise
Over 41,000 people currently work in our life sciences sector, delivering invaluable expertise and innovative thinking. In 2018, 35,000 students graduated with undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in various scientific subjects, many of whom will bring new skills, ideas and research to the sector.
2018 graduate stats
Biological sciences: 7,025
Including 5,065 undergraduates and 1,955 postgraduates
Subjects allied to medicine: 8,365
Including 5,730 undergraduates and 2,640 postgraduates
Engineering and technology: 6,020
Including 3,725 undergraduates and 2,295 postgraduates
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.
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
Medtech firm EnMovi (the latest venture from US-based parent company OrthoSensor Inc) has chosen Glasgow to advance its development of cutting-edge orthopaedic sensors and data analytics. The company has received £2.5 million R&D support from Scottish Enterprise and will use a new £8 million R&D base at University of Strathclyde to work on its products.
EnMovi will benefit greatly through co-location with similar businesses. It will also benefit from close collaboration with the university's academics, world-leading research and highly-skilled talent it produces in health tech.
Early 2021, in recognition of the exciting innovative work being undertaken by OrthoSensor and EnMovi, both companies were acquired by, Stryker Inc, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies.
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 Quintiles, Encap Capsugel and young, innovative companies with cutting-edge technologies, such as Clyde Biosciences and Biopta.
Stirling-based Symbiosis has several specialist manufacturing capabilities that are unique in the UK. In June 2020, the company signed an agreement with multinational AstraZeneca to sterile manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, known as AZD1222 for clinical trials.
Meanwhile, Thermo Fisher Scientific is expanding its manufacturing capacity in Perth, Scotland to meet future global demands for COVID-19 testing and sample collection.
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 regenerative medicine?
- World class MHRA-accredited GMP ATMP manufacturing facilities
- Cost effective logistic solutions to at least 27 major European cities within 24 hours
- Research-grade iPS cell manufacturing
- One of Europe’s largest and most highly regarded stem cell research hubs at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine
Edinburgh-based RoslinCT is expanding its manufacturing facilities and creating a new cell and gene training academy which will benefit the wider life sciences community and enhance Scotland's global reputation for life sciences excellence. The academy will focus on upskilling existing staff as well as providing external training as part of the UK Advanced Therapies Skills Training Network (ATSTN).
"With cell and gene therapy manufacturing being at the cutting edge we've taken the strategy to provide the training internally and develop a highly-skilled RoslinCT team. With the tremendous growth in ATMP and vaccine manufacturing, we're proud to support a pipeline of talent to support the industry for Scotland and the UK."
Janet Downie, CEO of RoslinCT
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.
“The Highlands and Islands are home to many of the aquaculture industry’s key players. With its strong transport links, Inverness sits right at the heart of the region’s thriving sector.”
Chris Matthews, Fish Vet Group Operations Director
Precision Medicine Living Lab
The Living Laboratory at the University of Glasgow’s Precision Medicine Living Lab has secured around £90 million funding and will set out to bring new science and innovation to a real-world clinical setting.
Based next to the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, it will foster cross-sector collaborations to exploit research for the benefit of patients.
It builds on Scotland's clinical and academic strengths within the life sciences community and Scotland’s reputation as a world leading centre of excellence in precision medicine.
Get the latest updates from Scotland’s life sciences & biotech industry
Why GSK continues to invest in Scotland
Scotland is home to a thriving biocluster, providing the ideal environment for innovation and company growth. This attracts global companies from around the world, including GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Between its two sites in Montrose and Irvine, GSK has a 100 years of manufacturing experience in Scotland.
Read more about why GSK chose to set up in Scotland
A prime site for clinical trials
Thanks to strong collaboration with the NHS, running clinical trials in Scotland is a streamlined and efficient process, offering globally competitive trial recruitment and start-up times. Scotland can offer:
- Rapid recruitment thanks to a single national database of 5.3 million patient records
- Quick permission times – around 3 weeks for commercial projects and just under 2 weeks for non-commercial projects.
- A single point of access to clinical and research expertise
- Fast and efficient identification and coordination of multi-centre clinical research
- An extensive bio-banking resource that’s unrivalled in Europe.
This makes Scotland the ideal place for phase I, II and III clinical trials, post-market surveillance, biostatistics, regulatory compliance, data management and study monitoring.
A world-first innovation centre
New £56 million Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) to be based in Scotland.
The UK innovation centre 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. It will offer a unique service aimed at developing and adopting novel manufacturing techniques that pharma companies can use in their own manufacturing processes.
“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, interim chief executive, Scottish Enterprise
Centres of excellence
Biocluster sites in Scotland include:
- Edinburgh BioQuarter
- BioCity Scotland
- Dundee Drug Discovery Unit
- Inverness Campus
- Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
- BioHub Aberdeen (in development)
Scottish Health Research and Innovation Ecosystem
Search our directory to explore the health research and innovation landscape in Scotland including the NHS, clinical, academic and trade organisations.
Exporting from Scotland
Exporting from Scotland is a streamlined process thanks to our excellent worldwide networks. In 2017, the life sciences and biotech sector generated £1.3bn in exports.
Find out more about exporting and access to markets
Life science, biotech and pharmaceutical companies in Scotland
Curious about the kind of companies that thrive here? Looking for potential partners? Here are just a few of the life sciences companies that call Scotland home:
- Optos
- Quintiles
- Encap Capsugel
- Clyde Biosciences
- Biopta
- Roslin Cells
- NuCana
Read more about the following companies in our success stories section:
From diagnostics to therapeutics, the Scottish Life and Chemical Sciences Directory is your gateway to over 1000 companies and organisations in Scotland.
Further information
You might also be interested in
Drug discovery and clinical trials
Scotland leads on potential Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.
Our people and skills
Find out more about the workforce and skills you’ll have access to in Scotland.
Commercial opportunities
Explore opportunities for your business at Edinburgh BioQuarter, a world-class life sciences cluster that’s home to two major hospitals, University of Edinburgh research institutes and growing companies.
Get the latest updates from Scotland’s life sciences and biotech industry