U.K. biotech and medtech startups reeled in a record 4.5 billion pounds, or $6.05 billion, through venture capital and public financing in 2021, according to the BioIndustry Association and Clarivate.
Nearly $3.4 billion of that heap was via venture capital, which means U.K. biotechs secured half of Europe’s VC pot for the sector. That figure represents an 81% increase over 2020 for the U.K., and the $1.75 billion raised from initial public offerings was a 434% jump, BIA and Clarivate calculated (PDF).
The financing record paints the U.K. in a better light than its European peers, as the continent’s biotech investment fell 12% to reach a total of just over $6.7 billion last year.
China, another life sciences hub, also saw a 12% drop—in this case to $4.56 billion. The U.S. biotech industry surpassed both regions by a long shot, pulling in $25.2 billion. The report looked at funding from Dec. 1, 2020 to November 30, 2021.
BIA CEO Steve Bates said the “record-breaking” buzzword has “almost become an old trope.” Bates said the U.K. is positioned to be “the global hub for life sciences,” but warned that there’s a gap between the life sciences and finance sectors.
“The large fundraises showcased in this report are largely the result of overseas investment, meaning the value creation will also be offshored,” Bates said in the report.
The U.K.’s single-largest venture deal was Oxford Nanopore’s $271 million to bankroll its genetic sequencing technology. Rounding out the top three were artificial intelligence drug hunter Exscientia and Vaccitech, the biotech behind the AstraZeneca-Oxford partnered COVID-19 jab.
Oxford Nanopore and Exscientia also had the two largest public market debuts in 2021, with Nanopore securing $470 million on the London Stock Exchange and Exscientia nabbing $343 million on Nasdaq.
U.K.-based biotechs secured the fourth-largest amount of venture financing by region in 2021. Massachusetts won, followed by the San Francisco Bay area and mainland China, according to Mike Ward, global head of life sciences at Clarivate.