First quarter of 2022 is best ever for biotech venture capital financing
The UK’s BioIndustry Association (BIA) has released a new report indicating that during the first quarter of 2022, UK biotech companies raised £453 million in venture capital financing. The report: Biotech financing update Dec 2021 – Feb 2022, is produced by the BIA and Clarivate and shows, the BIA says, that the first quarter of 2022 ‘is the best for UK biotech VC financing ever recorded by BIA and Clarivate and neither the US nor China enjoyed the same year-on-year growth.’ Clarivate is a company focused on providing insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation.
The BIA added that alongside the financial investment, the UK biotech and life sciences sector continued to demonstrate its status as a global hub with a number of significant developments during the first quarter of 2022. These developments include several new companies, including Altos Labs, backed by Jeff Bezos, and EyeBio; founded by American entrepreneurs choosing the UK for their operations. Cytiva, which provides bioprocessing products and services to the biopharmaceutical industry, has opened a £300 million manufacturing facility in Cardiff, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals is making a £75 million investment in a new facility at Kent Science Park. In addition the UK Government announced a £15.9 million investment supporting Croda’s manufacturing expansion.
Commenting on the investment flow, the BIA’s Chief Executive Steve Bates OBE said: ‘[It’s] because the UK has depth in great science, quality talent, vital genomics and AI capability, modern and growing infrastructure, a competitive tax regime, a collaborative regulator and a proven entrepreneurial track record of being able to do complex things fast – demonstrated by the Vaccine Taskforce way of delivering. This strong base enables UK life science firms to outcompete peers in other clusters.’
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