Hopes For A ‘New Era’ In UK Biotech Financing With Pension-Backed Fund

Backed by the UK government and the Phoenix Group, the initial £200m fund is aimed at convincing pension funds to invest in the higher-risk, higher-reward life sciences sector.

Regent Street, London

The UK may be Europe’s pre-eminent biotech sector but its potential has been held back by a huge shortfall in cash compared with the US. That could be about to change, with the launch this week of a long-awaited scheme to entice pension funds to invest in early-stage biopharma companies.

Key Takeaways
  • The UK is Europe’s biggest biotech sector, but still struggles to attract enough capital

  • In 2022, UK biotechs raised £1.8bn ($2bn) – dwarfed by the $51bn raised by US biotech firms

The UK-based global asset manager ICG has been selected by the government’s British Business Bank to receive £100m investment from its Long-term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative

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