Growth opportunities in the UK Pharma, Biotech & Medical Devices Sectors

The Potential for Growth

The UK has one of the strongest and most productive Life Sciences industries in the world, employing over 250,000 people and generating a turnover of close to £90bn as of 2020.

85% of the businesses in the industry are SMEs.

The advancement of medical technologies is key driver of growth in this sector, with new technologies making it possible to develop new drugs and more effective treatments for a range of conditions.

This continued evolution in UK life sciences supports the estimates that the UK bio economy as a whole could be worth up to £440bn by 2030.

With this growth, supporting the delivery of healthcare has never been more important.

Medical devices are an essential tool for this delivery, ranging from the relatively simple and external (such as sterile gloves) to the complex and invasive (implantable defibrillators, deep brain stimulators, etc). This is an area of intense innovation, and one in which there are ever-increasing opportunities to improve people’s lives through devices that address health needs, including in diagnosis, treatment, or disease prevention.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how being able to invent, develop and scale reliable in vitro diagnostic tests saves lives. Advances in imaging technologies mean that health care professionals can now detect diseases earlier and monitor treatments more reliably.

Advances in implantable and wearable devices mean that our health status can be monitored in real time, and treatment delivered rapidly, even within seconds.

With the UK leaving the EU, there has been an opportunity created to independently set out a regulatory framework for medical devices in Great Britain that is best aligned to the people of the UK.

Legislation has ensured that the NHS and patients have faster access to the best innovative medicines and medical devices, so the UK can use this opportunity to promote better patient outcomes and population health and prioritise patient safety.

Added to this is the growth in BioTech. The UK has been at the forefront of encouraging the world to move towards clean growth, playing a leading role in providing the technologies and innovation strategies for the future.

With the benefit of the already established bioscience base, the UK has an opportunity to create and champion new forms of clean energy and new routes to high value industrial chemicals, producing smarter, cheaper materials such as bio-based plastics and composites for everyday items as part of a more circular, low-carbon economy.

Reducing plastic waste and pollution by developing a new generation of advanced and environmentally sustainable plastics, such as bio-based and biodegradable packaging and bags (whilst avoiding microplastic pollution).

Manufacturing medicines of the future and making existing ones more efficiently.

Challenges

The opportunity provided by the UK’s exit from the EU has also thrown up challenges to regulators, manufacturers, and other stakeholders with new regulations around medical devices in the EU (that also apply in Northern Ireland).

Also, the range, complexity, and rapid evolution of new types of medical devices has brought challenges in the field of regulation, namely, how to support innovation in medical devices to accelerate benefit to patients and the growth of this sector, whilst also enhancing safety.

Recent concerns regarding the safety of some medical devices has been raised in the context of high-profile cases such as the use of metal-on-metal hip replacements, PIP silicone breast implants, and the pelvic mesh.

In this highly regulated environment, businesses need to make sure they comply.

There is also the challenge of resource demand. Population growth coupled with people living longer means that there are expectations on greater mobility, improved products and better services as technology develops.

There is also the huge responsibility to protect the environment, tackle the effects of climate change and improve air quality. The UK has a large role to play in this and should be at the forefront of Green and Clean Growth.

Role of Funding

Despite some of the challenges, there are huge opportunities for SMEs in the medical devices and Bio/Pharma industries to grow and play a pivotal role in their development.

To continue to grow, funding is very important and can play a critical role in supporting the business growth plans in these sectors.

Government grants were a good source of funding for businesses during the Pandemic, and grants can be used to support research and development, as well as marketing and sales activities. However, government grants are now far more difficult to obtain and have strict eligibility requirements.

An easier route that funding growth is Debt Capital.

Historically provided by banks or other financial institutions, but more recently provided by alternative lenders like SME Capital, a lender provides the capital needed for a company to grow and succeed in return for an agreed loan, repaid with interest.

How could finance be used to take advantage of growth opportunities?

The growth prospects of key sectors within medical, pharma and biotech space will rely on the right funding for growth and acquisitions.

So how can SME businesses within this space use debt funding make a real difference?

Well, here is an example. The important innovation in the components that make up the continuous evolution and improvement of medical devices that make better the quality of life for millions of patients every year, requires critical investment in production from the private sector.

Wearable medical tech miniaturised medical devices, and the adoption of 3D-printing all require businesses that can design, develop, manufacture, manage and supply such devices, and can scale as demand increases.

With the right debt capital injection, businesses can scale-up and get growth-ready. Debt finance can cover the costs of materials, manufacturing and shipping the components and equipment needed to supply and support this space.

In scaling this investment can also support the recruitment of the right manpower to ensure production.

If you would like to discuss how we can help fund your growth plans in the UK pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices sectors, please get in touch.

About SME Capital

SME Capital was founded to support the growing number of SMEs who face difficulty or frustration in accessing capital through traditional methods. We understand the importance of real and trusted relationships in the SME lending market and have dedicated Regional Directors based across the UK. By combining traditional lending expertise with the latest in data analytics, we are supporting established UK SMEs with their long-term objectives and business ambitions.

Growth opportunities in the UK Pharmaceutical, Biotech and Medical Devices Sector