Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his oral Answer of 11 January 2022, Official Report, column 413, that the life science sector has grown, in terms of private investment, by 1,000 per cent in the last ten years and is creating jobs all around the UK, in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, what the evidential basis is for that answer.

Analysis conducted by the Office for Life Sciences using data from S&P Capital IQ showed that in the first 10 months of 2021, UK Life Sciences companies raised a total of £6.6bn in equity finance. This is an increase of 1,000% since 2012 when the equivalent figure was £0.6bn. These figures include public and private investment and cover the sectors of Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences Tools and Services, Health Care Equipment and Supplies and Health Care Technology. They were set out in the press release accompanying the recent Biopharmaceutical CEO Roundtable, held on 2 December 2021.

The 2020 Biosciences and Health Sector Statistics publication shows that net employment in the UK life sciences industry increased by 31,500 between 2011 and 2020, and that during that period, net employment increased in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Annex: Supporting Data

Source: Office for Life Sciences: Bioscience and Health Technology Statistics 2020