The Triple Helix of industry, which is made up of government, corporates and academia, including teaching hospitals, is integral to creating a successful life science ecosystem.

 The UK has a combination of world leading universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Kings College London and Imperial College London, along with teaching hospitals such as Guy’s and St Thomas and Addenbrookes. This, coupled with the growing appetite for life science companies of all scales wanting to co-locate with these institutions, has seen the UK maintain its position as a global science powerhouse.

 Tom Mellows, head of UK science at Savills, comments: “The UK remains the bellwether of the European science markets, taking its lead from the US when it comes to attracting investment. As the sector continues to mature, we are likely to see increasing growth outside of the Golden Triangle, as well as growing interest in mainland Europe, particularly in France, Germany and the Netherlands.”

 In Europe, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany remain established life science ecosystems, largely due to the high level of collaboration between academia and industry. For instance, notable deals in 2021 saw metabolic disease specialist North Sea Therapeutics NV raise US$80 million, whilst NewAmsterdam Pharma, a clinical stage company focused on the research and development of transformative therapies for cardio-metabolic diseases, raised €162 million, both in the Netherlands.

Looking ahead, Savills anticipates that countries including Spain and Italy will increasingly look to focus on greater collaboration between academia and corporates. This, in turn, should see higher levels of VC investment moving forward, as already experienced in other European countries.

 There has already been significant interest from overseas investors looking to grow ecosystems in countries such as Italy. Lendlease’s MIND development in Milan, with funding from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), is a good example of investors looking to establish a future life science hub by capitalising on Triple Helix collaboration, alongside a strong ESG agenda.

Mike Barnes, associate director in the commercial European research team, adds: “Respective governments in emerging life science locations with an aspiration to be world leaders have the opportunity to create policy to encourage greater collaboration between academia and industry. This is generating new development opportunities, which will result in the growth of life science ecosystems and attract further VC investment. As a result, we predict this will cause a shift in the below chart as countries move along and up the curve to compete on the global stage.”

See chart here.