A report has named London the number one city in Europe and third globally for life sciences, behind Boston and New York, and ahead of Amsterdam, Munich, Paris, San Francisco and Singapore.
The Global Cities Comparison Report launched by MedCity ahead of London Life Sciences Week, benchmarked London’s life sciences sector against other global cities across five key areas: research innovation, health research environment, talent ecosystem, investment environment and business environment.
With the highest global ranking for its health research environment, London stands out for its high concentration of clinics, rapid recruitment of participants in early-stage clinical trials and supportive regulatory system. The UK capital has over 35 biomedical research centres and serves one of the world’s most diverse populations, with 8.9 million residents – 40% of whom identify with either Asian, Black, Mixed or other ethnic groups.
The combination of world-leading research clinicians, a diverse trial population, integrated digital health systems, and a globally respected regulatory body makes London an attractive destination for health research and new medicine development.
In research innovation, London is a close second to Boston. The UK capital is home to three of the world’s top 15 universities for clinical and health sciences and has the highest number of Nobel Prize-winning scientists outside of New York and Boston. London’s high calibre of research and technical innovation is evident.
The city’s life sciences research community not only produces the highest volume of publications but also participates in the greatest number of international research collaborations outside of the US.
When it comes to London’s business environment, the city ranks second globally, just behind New York. With a thriving ecosystem of over 2,400 life sciences companies, the UK capital has become a prime destination for life sciences businesses, attracted by its international connectivity, commitment to sustainability, low operational risk, and access to high-quality talent at competitive labour costs.
This strong foundation enables London’s life sciences innovators to fully leverage the power of Al. The UK capital has more Al and data-focused life sciences companies than any other worldwide, collectively raising over £2.2bn in investment to date. Major firms like pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have established their largest Al teams in London. The city is a global leader in Al talent, as well as home to leading Al research centres, including the Alan Turing Institute and Google’s DeepMind.
The Global Cities Comparison Report was released ahead of London Life Sciences Week where hundreds of industry leaders, innovators, and investors gathered for a week of networking, deal-making and celebrating life sciences innovation.
The report also comes hot on the heels of a new resource for those interested in the UK capital’s life science sector. The London Offer For Life Sciences, created by MedCity in collaboration with key stakeholders in the ecosystem, provides a comprehensive guide to the city’s strengths, spotlighting life sciences innovations across Al, oncology, cell and gene therapy, digital health, and diagnostics. It also details available support for enterprises in the UK capital and includes interactive maps that make it easier to navigate London’s eight life science clusters, infrastructure, and key institutions.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“Our world-beating life sciences industry is a key pillar of London’s economy, creating thousands of highly-skilled jobs, contributing billions of pounds to our economy, and improving our healthcare system, as we continue building a better and more prosperous London for everyone.”
Commenting on London’s Offer for Life Sciences, Dr. Angela Kukula, CEO of MedCity and Director of Life Sciences at London & Partners, said:
“London’s Offer for Life Sciences’ highlights everything that makes the city stand out. Its world-class institutions, thriving research clusters, skilled workforce, and strong connections locally and internationally.
“Our goal is to make it easy for anyone interested in London’s life sciences sector – from investors to innovators – to find the information they need. This is just the start and we look forward to growing this resource with ongoing support from our key partners.”
Chris Gibson, PhD, Co-founder and CEO of Recursion, a US biotech company that recently expanded its operations to London, said:
“As Recursion continues to lead and define the techbio industry, it’s critical we hire the best possible talent, much of which is located in Europe.
“London stood out as an ideal location given its brilliant and interdisciplinary talent across fields such as technology, biology and chemistry. It’s also the epicentre of the rapidly growing TechBio sector in Europe; leading tech and life sciences companies like Google and MSD sit within walking distance of our new Recursion site.
“I look forward to expanding our operations in Europe and hiring many new Recursionauts who will help us advance our mission of decoding biology to radically improve lives.”
to view the full MedCity Global Cities Comparison Report, visit the website here.
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