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Why now might be the time for Scottish Life Sciences

James Sheppard, International Head of Commercial Strategy, on Scotland’s life sciences ecosystem

Scotland’s life science ecosystem can make a global impact

I have had the pleasure of coming to Scotland for business now for over a decade. Over this time, I have seen Scotland’s life science ecosystem grow, develop and flourish. However, something feels a little different now. Whilst not without its challenges, it feels like Scotland’s seat at the top table of innovators is secure, it now wants to kick on to the next level.

Over the past six months I have noticed a real shift in narrative from Scottish entrepreneurs. Historically, there was a push/pull to move to Ox-Cam/London/USA. That is still present, however, when I speak to Scottish entrepreneurs and founders, the opening statement is ‘I want to build my business in Scotland’. Entrepreneurs spinning out of UoG, UoE, UoD and many more, where possible now want to keep their businesses in Scotland, so let’s make it as easy as possible for them!

Worth more than £10bn to the Scottish economy, the life sciences sector is growing over 5% per year. The cluster is driving breakthroughs in health tech, digital medicine and biomanufacturing. Its collaborative ecosystem of universities, research institutes, spinouts and corporates has made it a recognised European leader in drug discovery and advanced therapies. Innovative companies such as RoslinCT, NovaBiotics, Chemify, Trogenix, Resolution Therapeutics, TauRx and many more all call Scotland home providing a base of world class innovation.

Big pharma is also taking note. The recent manifesto for Health and Growth from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Scotland points the way forward for the sector. The push to get Scotland to adopt ‘Once for Scotland’ approvals shows that the global pharma industry is taking note of what Scotland can offer. Clinical trials have always been a strong element of the Scottish ecosystem and the industry push to get Scotland to match the 150-day clinical trial setup time will be critical to avoid any loss of this part of the market.

However, things still aren’t perfect. Scotland is still lacking growth capital, whilst companies have no trouble raising money from international investors, this normally comes with strings, such as requirements to build your company in Boston. More seed funding, more Series A, more follow on investment will continue to boost the sector. Alongside money, companies need leadership. Scotland is one of the best places in Europe to live so how do we attract more experienced executives from a global pool of life science talent to Scotland.

Scotland also needs to solve its university funding challenges (not unique to Scotland of course) to give a stable growth for innovation. If we unburden these institutions of anti-growth procurement and legal issues, it will allow for a more nimble sector. It is also key that Governments need to recognise that these institutions are going to power the next 50+ years of the Scottish economy.

Last but not least, Scotland is still critically undersupplied for high quality commercial lab space. The right space at the right time is key, from incubators to scale up to R&D to manufacturing. New schemes like the Health Innovation Hub (HiH) in Glasgow and Life Science Innovation Hub in Dundee are important steps forward. The property market at present is challenging, making new developments tricky, but the demand is still there. We’ve witnessed this first hand with Chemify expanding its operations in a move to HiH which represents the largest commercial letting for life sciences in Glasgow so far this year.

I am the eternal optimist, to the annoyance of my colleagues, however, Scotland has all the ingredients to succeed and some forward thinking from public sector bodies will be key to not lose this momentum. In 2021 the Scottish Government proudly announced it had achieved its Vision 2025 aims four years early. Whilst this is of course a huge success, my read is that clearly the ambition wasn’t high enough. Scotland, don’t let the opportunity slip, aim higher.