Scotland's life sciences sector to double by 2020
The Life Sciences Advisory Board (LiSAB) has published its refreshed Strategy today (Monday 21 March) outlining its mission to double the size of the sector in Scotland by 2020.
The document highlights three strategic areas of focus to achieve this ambitious target: anchoring those businesses in Scotland that provide vital skills and market access; building more resilient companies and comprehensive supply chains; and attracting new inward investment and talent that will build on Scotland’s existing capabilities.
In doing so, LiSAB anticipates that it will be able to double turnover within the sector from £3.1 billion to £6.2 billion by 2020 while also doubling the sector’s contribution to the Scottish economy from £1.5 billion to £3 billion Gross Value-Added.
The Strategy aims to build on Scotland’s existing strengths, particularly in key business areas such as medical technologies and pharmaceutical services where there is already a substantial local company base, ranging from innovative start-ups to global multinationals.
It also aims to capitalise on prior investment in Scotland’s research excellence, particularly in areas such as stem cells and regenerative medicine and clinical/translational medicine, where there are significant current and emerging commercial opportunities.
LiSAB has also identified a number of exciting new opportunities for Scotland arising from global economic and health trends, which could deliver significant economic impact in the future. These include areas such as assisted living, stratified medicine, wellness and sustainability.
In delivering the long term goals of the strategy, LiSAB believes that the life sciences sector can become a primary driver of both wealth creation and health promotion in Scotland. This will see more Scottish life sciences companies growing into major businesses with international reach, and NHS Scotland becoming more innovative through greater collaboration with the life sciences community.
Dr John Brown, co-chair of the Life Sciences Advisory Board, said: “This strategy sets out our aspiration to double the economic contribution of life sciences to the Scottish economy. We seek to create the best possible environment for life sciences businesses to succeed by building on the diversity of our sector, the established reputation of our academic and clinical researchers and the powerfully collaborative nature of Scotland’s life sciences community.”
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon added: “Life sciences is a key area of strength for Scotland and an industry we are determined to support. That is directly in line with the growth strategy set out in our economic recovery plan which focuses on supporting growth companies, building up growth industries and helping Scottish companies expand into growth markets.
“This new strategy for lifesciences will help deliver further real success for this growth industry, bringing substantial benefits both for healthcare in Scotland and for our economy.”
LiSAB’s industry strategy sets out what is required from the private sector, the Scottish government, Scottish Enterprise and other enterprise agencies and the wider public sector if Scotland is to make the most of these opportunities.
Rhona Allison, senior director of life sciences at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scotland has the highest number of life sciences start up companies in the UK per head of population and we continue to attract new investment from global players such as Toshiba and Glaxo SmithKline.
“To ensure we build on these successes, we need to ensure our company base can target new opportunities in the global life sciences market. This means helping them to be more innovative, secure new investment and work more internationally.
“Projects such as Edinburgh BioQuarter and the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine are also establishing the infrastructure that’s needed to attract new investment and talent to Scotland and we need to continue to encourage greater collaboration in the sector both here in Scotland and internationally.”
Ends
- Download a copy of the Scottish Life Sciences Strategy 2011: Creating Wealth, Promoting Health strategy. This refreshes the 2005 Scottish Life Sciences Strategy: Achieving Critical Mass.
- Scotland has a diverse life sciences base with more than 640 organisations, employing more than 32,000 people.
- Since 1998, the sector has grown at annually at a rate of 6%, increasing turnover from £1.8 billion to £3.1 billion.
- Between 2005 and 2009, Scotland has the UK’s highest number of life sciences start up per head of population (UK Life Sciences Start Up Report 2010, Mobius Life Sciences)
- In 2010, Scottish life sciences companies raised £37.4 milion in venture funding – more than three times the 2005 figure.
- LiSAB consists of representatives from across the spectrum of the life sciences community, including CEOs and senior managers from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics companies, contract research organisations, the research community, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government and its agencies.