Life Sciences and Innovation activity in the UK: Q1 2023 Insights

It was a quarter that saw a record number of company incorporations, the highest Q1 life sciences real estate investment total ever witnessed, together with a number of strategic investments from large life sciences companies into UK R&D Infrastructure. It was also a time when the Government outlined its proposed road to make the UK a “science superpower”. 

Headlines for Q1 2023 include:

• Shifting macroeconomic conditions negatively impacted venture capital funding. Q1 2023 UK life sciences venture capital funding reached £587m which is a 28% decline quarter-on-quarter and a 33% decline year-on-year. Positively, drug discovery and advanced therapy companies continue to receive strong capital investment.
• Q1 2023 saw the formation of 283 new life sciences companies in the UK - the most of any quarter on record.  
• The UK Government announced a series of positive measures to further support and grow the sector; large companies like Moderna, Brinton Pharmaceuticals and BioNTech invested in UK R&D infrastructure; and the UK’s GMP (good manufacturing practice) manufacturing capacity was boosted with £277m of public and private investment via the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund.
• Q1 2023 life sciences investment volumes for the Golden Triangle (Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and London) totalled £496.32m.   This figure represents the highest first-quarter investment total on record for the life sciences sector and the best quarter for investment since Q4 2021.
• Oxford, Cambridge and London remain the epicentre of life sciences leasing activity.  Q1 life sciences office and lab take-up in these three markets totalled 149,153 sq ft.  London accounted for 66% of this activity.