£89.9m boost for Scotland's life sciences sector

Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency, and the UK Government, via the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, are supporting Glasgow-based digital chemistry company Chemify to accelerate its growth, create up to 300 jobs and strengthen Scotland's position as a global hub for life sciences innovation.

The public sector is contributing £22 million - £16 million from Scottish Enterprise and £6 million from the UK Government - towards the company’s expansion, with Chemify contributing £67.9 million, taking the total company expansion project to £89.9 million.

Founded in 2019 as a spinout from the University of Glasgow, with initial backing provided by Innovate UK’s Innovation Accelerator programme, Chemify is pioneering the way new medicines and advanced materials are discovered.

It has developed technology fusing robotics and AI which automates the design, manufacture and testing of new chemical compounds, helping accelerate innovation across pharmaceutical and advanced materials industries with the potential to help researchers develop new treatments and advanced materials more quickly and at lower cost.

As part of Chemify’s expansion project, the company will establish its new global headquarters and research and development centre at the University of Glasgow's Health Innovation Hub in Govan, part of the Glasgow Riverside Innovation District.

This move will help anchor the company's future growth in Scotland while expanding its automated manufacturing operations in Glasgow. It is a direct example of the UK Government and Scottish Government supporting high-potential UK companies to grow, scale and remain in the UK, as committed to in Scotland’s Life Sciences Strategy and the UK Life Sciences Sector Plan.

Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Adrian Gillespie said, “Chemify’s investment is a powerful vote of confidence in Scotland as a place to scale innovative deep-tech businesses. It will accelerate the company’s growth and create exciting opportunities across chemistry, advanced manufacturing and life sciences sectors.

“Having supported Chemify since 2023, I’m excited to see Lee and his team continue to choose Scotland for their expansion. It underlines the strength of Scotland’s innovation environment and the calibre of companies growing here.

“By backing ambitious, scaling businesses like Chemify, we’re helping world-leading Scottish science make a bigger impact globally.”

Science Minister Chris McDonald said, “Chemify is changing the way that drugs are discovered by using artificial intelligence and robotics.

"They are doing this right here in Britain, which gives us the best opportunity to access new treatments earlier and make and sell drugs for the rest of the world.

"The decisions we have taken in our industrial strategy are helping companies like Chemify to start here in the UK, grow here and stay here. It is a big change from the past when many of our world leading science discoveries were commercialised overseas.

"We are aiming to have the third biggest life sciences industry in the world, and the biggest in Europe by 2035.

"It is one of the ways that we will help people across the country to get decent well paid jobs."

The project will also establish Chemify as the first Chemistry Hyperscaler, increasing its capacity to rapidly design and make new compounds for partners, scale its technology globally and create opportunities across Scotland's life sciences, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.

Professor Lee Cronin, Founder and CEO of Chemify, said, “Just one year ago, our first Chemifarm in Glasgow proved that Chemputation works by grounding AI-enabled drug discovery in physical synthesis and improving the design and makeability of new molecules and materials.

“The additional funding will enable us to hyperscale chemistry, expand our next-generation Chemifarm and advance our Chemify Genesis system to vastly increase our capacity to create new molecules, materials and medicines and bespoke datasets.”

The expansion will increase Chemify's Scottish workforce from 152 employees to around 450 over the next three years, creating up to 300 highly skilled jobs and safeguarding a further 100 jobs.

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport Stephen Flynn said, "Scotland is a global centre for life sciences innovation and advanced manufacturing. This significant investment and creation of up to 300 highly skilled jobs at Chemify in Glasgow is a major boost for our economy and will help grow one of Scotland's most important and dynamic sectors.

 “By supporting pioneering companies such as Chemify, we are reinforcing Scotland's position at the forefront of scientific discovery and next generation technologies, while helping deliver the ambitions set out in our Life Sciences Strategy, including growing the sector's contribution to £25 billion by 2035."

The project builds on Chemify's rapid growth in recent years, including the launch of its advanced automated manufacturing facility in Glasgow, and will help position Scotland at the forefront of next-generation chemical innovation.