Chinese Firm Announces Investment In UK Biotech

A speciality pharmaceutical company from China – China Medical System (CMS) – has announced that it intends to invest up to £25 million in UK biotech and life sciences startups in the next five years.

CMS is working alongside AstraZeneca and Cambridge Judge Business School, which means the life sciences and biotech sector in and around Cambridge in particular is likely to benefit from the inflow of investment.

As a result of this collaboration, CMS is financing a programme office in Cambridge and will use this to help it find innovative startups to put money into.

This marks an extension of the collaboration between AstraZeneca and Cambridge Judge Business School, who have been working together since 2015. The pharmaceutical giant has provided mentoring to many biotech and life sciences researchers and innovators in recent years.

It has also worked with the educational establishment to promote enterprise and support entrepreneurship across a number of the programmes it runs.

The two organisations have used workshops, training and mentoring to support approximately 250 innovators and 40 startups in the life sciences sector.

Working with CMS will add another string to their bow, allowing them to “bridge a gap in funding for early stage biotech and life sciences ventures in the UK”. The collaboration will also help relevant companies to gain greater access to international markets, particularly China.

Supporting the UK’s life sciences industry is important, because it’s an area that could provide significant growth for the economy following Brexit.

Earlier this year, an article for Med-Tech News suggested that the medical technology sector could be an essential area of the economy for the country post-Brexit. It cited comments from Dr Mahiben Maruthappu, co-founder of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, who believes medtech could “prop up” the UK economy after Brexit.

He wants to see the country become a powerhouse in healthcare by focusing on exponential technologies. He has also argued that the UK could become a destination of choice for tech firms, with investment coming into the sector after the country leaves the EU.

One of the reasons why the UK is well-placed to take up this mantle is the NHS and its “unparallelled health data going back 70 years”.

While Brexit may still be on everyone’s minds, there’s a general election to come first.

A recent article in Med-Tech News explored what the different parties’ manifestos mean for healthcare and life sciences,

It cited comments from Mark Wasmuth, CEO of Global Medical Nomenclature Agency, who told GlobalData that, where the NHS is concerned, both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative manifestos have just a two out of ten benefit, while the Labour manifesto has a six out of ten benefit.

He stated that, while the Conservative’s election pledge to ‘Get Brexit Done & Unleash Britain’s Potential’ sounds impressive, there is little mention of medical. In fact, Mr Wasmuth said “medical was only mentioned in relation to doctors’ pensions”.

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