UK life sciences face sharp investment drop as global rivals surge ahead

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) warns that the UK is falling behind global competitors in R&D, clinical trial activity, and foreign investment, threatening its ambition to lead Europe’s life sciences sector by 2030.

Why it matters: Persistent barriers like poor access to new medicines, declining clinical trial performance, and unpredictable policy deter global investors and cause major pharma firms to scale back UK commitments.

Backstory: Since 2018, UK pharma R&D investment has slowed sharply, with growth dropping to 1.9% annually post-2020. In comparison, 12 peer countries saw a 6.6% compound annual growth rate in R&D investments. The UK also fell in clinical trial rankings and foreign direct investment, once ranking top 3 globally for trials, now down to 8th.

Zoom in: As an example of the decline, only 37% of new drugs are fully available in the UK vs. 90% in Germany and the median UK clinical trial setup time is 273 days, which is faster than China’s but behind the US, Spain, France and Germany.

Exit strategy: Major players are voting with their feet: AstraZeneca scrapped a £450M vaccine site in Liverpool after the UK cut planned financial support, redirecting $50B to U.S. operations instead. Merck announced yesterday it will pull out of a planned UK HQ and R&D hub, blaming a lack of progress on investment reform and undervaluation of innovative medicines.

Big picture: The UK risks losing its competitive edge in biopharma despite strengths like top-tier universities (rank 2nd worldwide), a rich biotech ecosystem (rank 1st in Europe), robust IP protections, and $10B raised in VC funding from 2017-2024 (rank 1st in Europe). Without urgent reform, the government’s vision of becoming a global life sciences leader may slip out of reach.