London’s life sciences companies raise record investment in 2017

Investment into London’s life sciences companies reached nearly £1bn in 2017, according to data from MedCity. The data compiled by MedCity from the PitchBook database, reveals that total investment into the UK’s life sciences sector reached £2.8bn in 2017 with 63 per cent landing in ‘The Golden Triangle’ of Cambridge, London and Oxford.

This data is hot off the heels of the UK BioIndustry Association report that revealed UK biotech company IPOs raised more than twice as much money in 2017 (£234m) than in 2016 (£105m).

Cell and gene therapies companies attracted some of the biggest deals of the year, with Orchard Therapeutics raising $110 million in series B funding; immunotherapy company, Autolus, raising $80m; and Imperial College London spin-out, Cell Medica, closing a £60m Series C round.

Sarah Haywood, CEO, MedCity, said:

“The pace of innovation in the life sciences sector, from genomics to digital health and gene therapies, coupled with a fertile funding environment and supportive regulatory system, has helped fuel this record investment into companies across London, Cambridge and Oxford. The enthusiasm for UK life sciences is encouraging new UK and global investors to plough money into our resilient sector and its spread of life sciences companies.”