The North East Pharma, HealthTech and Life Sciences Landscape Survey 2025
Overview of the sector
The North East of England boasts a thriving life sciences sector with over 300 sites, employing over 13,000 individuals with an estimated total turnover attributed to the region of over £3b annually .
The region’s strengths lie in pharmaceuticals, medtech, and health innovation, supported by major players like GSK, Fujifilm Diosynth, and Sterling Pharma. Approximately 80% of pharmaceutical products manufactured in the region are exported, showcasing its global influence.
Innovation and Infrastructure
The sector benefits from cutting-edge innovation driven by organisations such as Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and the region’s five universities, which specialise in areas like ageing, cancer diagnostics, and rare diseases. Specialist hubs such as Newcastle’s Biosphere and NETPark in County Durham play a critical role in nurturing early stage and scaling companies by providing high quality lab, office, and technical space.
Key Findings from the Life Sciences Barometer Survey
The 2025 survey highlights a sector that is performing strongly, with most companies reporting improved financial health, broad progress in innovation and commercial development, and persistent structural challenges that continue to limit early stage growth.
- Financial Performance: Most companies reported better or much better performance than last year, with only 18% seeing any decline and none reporting “much worse” performance.
- Achievements: Companies saw successes across technological innovation, product development, strategic partnerships, new patents, funding wins, and early commercial traction
- Challenges: Access to capital was the top issue, alongside a 20 year shortage of affordable lab space, global market disruptions, NHS adoption constraints, and regulatory uncertainty linked to US and EU policy shifts.
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