What does the future hold for the UK life sciences industry?

The UK is quickly moving to the head of the pack in Europe in the field of Life Sciences. It is accepted generally that the Life Science sector within the UK will only continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

But what are the current trends within the sector, and how will the industry develop in the coming years?

What are the forecasted trends in the life sciences industry?

Artificial Intelligence

With the application of AI, the boundaries of life science will widen more and more as the pharmaceutical industry utilises the technology to develop new drugs.

With AI technology, biomedical research is accelerated as outcomes can be determined many times faster. AI analysis of effective treatments can be determined without trials, collation of industry-wide information can be processed and compared almost instantly and procedures can be undertaken by RPA AI-driven clinicians.

Helping countries become more risk-averse

The global risks of recent years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and supply chain interruption have forced governments to look at their country’s reliance on food, medicine and energy supplies from overseas.

The COVID pandemic proved that life science could accelerate the development and delivery of new life-saving drugs. The reliance on foodstuffs from Ukraine has driven efforts to develop more e disease-resistant crops.

This research is driven and will continue to be driven by life science and the collaboration of scientists across borders, which will be facilitated by the new communication technologies and AI processes.

Research into molecular mechanisms of disease

The Life Science sector will also see further research into molecular mechanisms of disease, so creating further advances in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases which currently have no cure by in some cases stopping or reversing molecular change, with life saving effects.

Where are the most prosperous life science businesses based in the UK?

The Life Science clusters which can be found mainly along the M4, M6 and M62 corridors and the Golden Triangle (Oxford, Cambridge and London), fall within the sight of the MHA office network, and so we do boast a wide number of clients who are involved in the sector either directly on a scientific level or indirectly on a supply level.

The North West of England also has its own Life Science facilities, such as the major life science hub within the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Systems. Molecular and Integrative Biology Faculty. With the team at the Liverpool Life Science faculty, recently providing evidence to Covid Inquiry.

The Northwest is also home to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) which was founded 125 years ago, and so the first such institution in the world of its kind dedicated to research in tropical diseases. The institution has 10 sub-units researching life sciences including snakebites venoms, HIV and childbirth to number a just a few.

Wider afield, at Alderley Park in Cheshire can be found the UK’s largest single life science campus with over 2,500 innovators spread over 1m sq. ft. This site is home a numerous research companies and national Research institutions.