Only 36 per cent of start-ups in the life sciences sector secure investment, according to a report by Mobius Life Sciences Fund and BioCity Nottingham.

‘There is no getting away from the fact that this country needs to invest if it wants a successful bioscience industry, but historically the jam has been spread too thinly,’ says Glenn Crocker, who wrote the report. ‘It’s not simply about how many start ups are created; it’s about how well university research is turned into business opportunities and the start in life that the companies achieve.’

Across the UK, the average investment per start-up is £3.3 million, but there are massive regional disparities: in the South East the average is £12 million, whilst in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales it is £500,000.

Almost four-fifths of life science start-up activity is concentrated in just four areas of the UK: Edinburgh and Glasgow; the “M1 Corridor” of Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham; Manchester and Liverpool; and the London/Oxford/Cambridge triangle.