Industry overview

Scotland is an internationally recognised research and bio-manufacturing base and renowned service centre, facilitating numerous clinical trials and bringing innovative drug products to market readiness.

Over 625 organisations and 31,000 employees make up Scotland’s powerful life sciences industry.

The life sciences industry in Scotland is a global leader in:

Valued at over £2.8 billion a year to the Scottish economy, the industry benefits from:

  • International partnerships
  • Robust capital investments from the government
  • Funding from private venture capital firms

Home to the worlds most creative and passionate life scientists

Scotland's life sciences industry leaders include pioneers like Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, a world expert in nuclear transfer techniques, and Professor Sir Philip Cohen, one of the most respected cancer specialists in the world.

As the industry continues to grow we seek to bring the best international life sciences talent to Scotland to develop their careers.

Search life sciences job vacancies in Scotland 

Life sciences and biomedical research specialists

Scotland's universities and institutes attract around £427 million of research funding which is approximately 12.5 percent of the total UK funding. This is particularly impressive considering Scotland has just about 8 percent of the total UK population.

Scotland’s renowned universities have a history of being at the forefront of research and development in the life sciences industry. This continues today with some of the world’s most prominent cancer, infectious disease, stem cells, genomics and diabetes studies being conducted here.

More on Scotland's life sciences academic and research institutes

Connecting with the global life sciences community

The Scottish community is forming lasting partnerships with the international life sciences industry.

There are strong links between Europe, USA, Japan and Korea stimulating exchange in investment, trade, technology, design and R&D.

Many of the global life sciences industry's top bio-manufacturing and research-based companies are choosing to locate in Scotland, including  BioReliance, Lifescan and Quintiles.

Supportive environment for commercial success

Scotland’s political environment is highly supportive of life sciences ventures.

The Scottish Government supports commercial opportunities within the academic and health sectors and is taking a leading role in funding early-stage ideas.

Companies in Scotland focused primarily on product development for the human healthcare market include:

  • Axis Shield
  • CXR BioScience
  • Scottish Biomedical
  • ProStrakan