Finance key for further growth in life sciences

● Funding seen as crucial to help sector achieve its growth ambition

0 Access to skilled staff to support growth is seen as one of the challenges ahead for the sector. Access to funding to invest for growth and attracting skilled staff are among the key challenges facing the Scottish life sciences sector as it looks to grow turnover to £8 billion by 2025, according to a survey out today.

The first survey of its kind conducted by the industry group Life Sciences Scotland (LSS) found that scaling up current sales revenue beyond existing rates of growth was the most common priority for businesses in Scotland.

Along with funding and staffing issues, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit was seen as one of the key concerns for companies in the sector.

LSS, co-chaired by Dave Tudor of GSK and which brings together industry, enterprise agencies and government, said: “Life sciences in Scotland has a strong heritage and the sector has been the source of many outstanding medical breakthroughs and discoveries. We want companies to continue to thrive and have the correct support and guidance in order to scale businesses and increase growth. We can only do this by keeping the industry connected together and listening to the priorities of companies up and down the country.”

Nearly a quarter of respondents said accelerating sales was their main focus. Collaborating with partners to take business models to the next level and commercialising existing intellectual assets were some of the other key priorities mentioned.

The survey praised the networking environment and connections across the sector in Scotland, along with collaboration opportunities with the NHS in Scotland and access to world leading research.

Latest figures show that the life sciences sector in Scotland employs over 37,000 people across some 700 organisations. Combined company turnover is in excess of £4.2bn.

Approximately £300m has been invested over the past three years across the sector by companies including Capsugel, GSK, Johnson Matthey, Piramal Healthcare, Quotient and Thermofisher Scientific.

Latest investment include a £1.6m funding package for Motherwell-based Bioascent Discovery led by Maven Capital Partners.