List of Biotech Companies in the UK

Last updated 21 October 2026

There are 4,079 biotech companies in the UK, one in every 2,166 UK companies. Most of them are small: four in five have one to four people, and only 67 firms employ 50 people or more. Four in five of all biotech firms are based in London, South East, East of England, North West and Scotland. Below you find the largest biotech firms in the UK, the regions where they cluster, how many started this year and which are the oldest. The full list with addresses, phone numbers and email is in our UK company database or through the Companies House API.

4,079 companies indexed · Data counted on 21 October 2026

Companies4,0791 in2,166 UK companiesRegions12Largest regionLondon 1,334Sole traders0.1%Employees1-4 (83%)Revenue< $100K (43%)Email9%Phone17%Website20%

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A live view of all 4,079 biotech firms, sorted by revenue. Narrow it by region, city, employee size, revenue, legal form or founding year, or search a firm by name.

Ucb Biopharma SRLUcb Biopharma SRL

	Company Name	Country	City	Address 1	State/Province	Postal Code	Website	Founding Year	Yearly Revenue in U.S. Dollars	Employees Total	Business Legal Type - Description	Number of Companies in Group	Company Registration Number
1	Ucb Biopharma SRL	Unitedkingdom	Slough	208 Bath Road	Slough	SL1 3WE	ucb.*****	2020	$3,765,294,607	1,344	Foreign company	102	FC037714
2	Astex Therapeutics LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Cambridge	436 Cambridge Science Park	Cambridgeshire	CB4 0QA	astx.*****	1999	$534,047,114	183	Corporation	595	03751674
3	Jazz Pharmaceuticals Research UK LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Chestnut Street	Building 730	Kent	ME9 8AG	gwpharm.*****	1995	$303,829,148	294	Corporation	13	03107561
4	Eniprogetti S.P.A.	Unitedkingdom	Basingstoke	Eni House Basing View	Hampshire	RG21 4YY	eni.*****	1953	$223,332,535	706	Foreign company	2249	FC033789
5	Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK LTD	Unitedkingdom	Little Chalfont	Amersham Place	Buckinghamshire	HP7 9NA	cytivalifesciences.*****	2019	$213,050,122	1,102	Corporation	774	12063780
6	Signant Health Management LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Reading	1 London Street	Reading	RG1 4PN	N/A	2014	$156,861,935	763	Corporation	3	09288769
7	Pharmaron UK LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Culverhouse Cross	The Old Glassworks	Cardiff	CF24 5JQ	pharmaron.*****	2004	$154,163,659	697	Corporation	81	08755111
8	Celltech R&D LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Slough	208 Bath Rd	Slough	SL1 3WE	celltechgroup.*****	1980	$128,209,554	618	Corporation	102	01472269
9	Alnylam UK LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Maidenhead	Point	Windsor and Maidenhead	SL6 8AA	alnylam.*****	2014	$95,291,206	395	Corporation	26	08871372
10	Sygnature Discovery LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Nottingham	Pennyfoot Street	Nottingham	NG1 1GR	sygnaturediscovery.*****	2004	$92,468,086	621	Corporation	30	05210563
11	Crf Health Group LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Reading	1 London Street	Reading	RG1 4PN	N/A	2014	$87,813,066	597	Corporation	33	09339823
12	Kandy Therapeutics LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Caversham Heights	400 South Oak Way	Reading	RG2 6AD	N/A	2017	$67,320,543	2	Corporation	1320	10753028
13	Horizon Discovery Biosciences LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Stow Cum Quy	8100 Cambridge Research Park Beach Drive	Cambridgeshire	CB25 9TL	horizondiscovery.*****	2006	$61,480,042	450	Corporation	255	05978215
14	Pacira LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Covingham	Kingfisher Drive	Swindon	SN3 5BZ	N/A	2007	$51,791,140	9	Corporation	18	06378639
15	Diaceutics PLC	Unitedkingdom	Belfast	First Floor	Belfast	BT9 6GW	diaceutics.*****	2005	$50,835,931	208	Corporation	6	NI055207
16	Cancer Research Technology LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	London	2 Redman Place	London	E20 1JQ	cancertools.*****	1982	$50,008,652	297	Corporation	615	01626049
17	Novogene (UK) Company LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Trumpington	25 Science Park	Cambridgeshire	CB4 0FW	en.*****	2014	$46,068,397	79	Corporation	18	09353226
18	Lgc Genomics LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Onslow Village	The Priestley Centre	Surrey	GU2 7XY	lgcgroup.*****	2011	$45,552,110	162	Corporation	90	07686158
19	Amphista Therapeutics LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Cambridge	The Cori Building	Cambridgeshire	CB21 6GQ	amphista.*****	2017	$43,003,879	56	Corporation	N/A	11119959
20	Verona Pharma LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Moorgate	120 Moorgate	London	EC2M 6UR	veronapharma.*****	2005	$42,279,000	163	Corporation	N/A	05375156
21	Genomics England LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	London	One Canada Square	London	E14 5AB	genomicsengland.*****	2013	$41,412,282	553	Corporation	5753	08493132
22	Beone Medicines UK, LTD.	Unitedkingdom	Holborn-strand-covent Garden	2 Kingdom Street	London	W2 6BD	N/A	2018	$39,854,422	77	Corporation	33	11726698
23	Almac Diagnostic Services LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Monbrief	Craigavon Co	Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon	BT63 5QD	N/A	2002	$34,766,869	217	Corporation	N/A	NI043067
24	Meiragtx UK Ii LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	Stoke Newington	92 Britannia Walk	London	N1 7NQ	N/A	2014	$34,341,886	230	Corporation	15	09348737
25	Quell Therapeutics LIMITED	Unitedkingdom	West Kensington	3rd Floor	London	W12 0BZ	quell-tx.*****	2019	$33,506,806	150	Corporation	N/A	11890040

Showing 25 of 4,092 companies

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Biotech firms in London

London has 1,334 biotech companies and biotech firms, <0.1% of all 1,945,804 London companies and 49% above the national share. Nine in ten London firms have fewer than five people; 20 have 50 or more. 164 new firms were entered in 2026, 4 date from before 1990.

Size

1-4 staff: 1,127 · 85%
5-9: 91 · 7%
10-19: 51 · 4%
20-49: 31 · 2%
50+: 20 · 2%

Legal form

Sole traders: 2 · 0.1%
Partnerships: 1 · <0.1%
Ltd and PLC: 1,323 · 99%
Other or none: 8 · 0.6%

Of the UK total: 32.7%
Of all London companies: <0.1%
Against the national share: 1.5×

New

Entered 2026 so far: 164
Entered 2025: 219
Of UK's 2026 entries: 40.4%

Old

Before 1990: 4 · 0.3%
1990 or later: 1,330 · 100%
Of UK's pre-1990 firms: 22.2%

Reachable

Email: 118 · 9%
Phone: 187 · 14%
Website: 226 · 17%

Revenue (USD)

Under $100K: 575 · 43%
$100K-$500K: 552 · 42%
$500K-$1M: 82 · 6%
$1M and more: 120 · 9%

Largest

1553
2297
3230
4163
5150

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How many biotech companies are there in the UK?

Biotech companies and biotech firms in the UK

4,079

21 October 2026

There are 4,079 biotech companies and biotech firms in the UK in our data (21 October 2026). That is one in every 2,166 UK companies. About 2 new firms are entered in the register every working day this year (406 so far in 2026).

Structure

Single-site firms: 3,804 93%
Head offices: 260
Branch offices: 15

Classification

Our platform filter is the national code 72110.

4,034 of the 4,079 are Ltd and PLC (99%); 5 are sole traders. They come from Companies House and our UK register data, through the Companies House API.

Where in the UK?

London has the most biotech companies in the UK (1,334), ahead of South East (637), East of England (626), North West (339) and Scotland (254). Together the five hold four in five of them. Relative to their size, East of England, London and South East have the most: 1.2 to 1.6 times the national share.

Regions by number of firms

12 UK regions have at least one biotech firm; 12 have ten or more; 0 have exactly one. Click a region to set the lens.

Only here

Where they cluster

Biotech firms per 100 companies, in regions with at least 100 of them. The national share is 0.05. East of England has 1.6 times the national share.

1.6×
1.5×
1.2×
0.9×
0.9×
0.8×
0.6×
0.6×
0.5×
0.5×

Dashed line: the national share. A filled dot is twice the national share or more.

Firm sizes in the UK

Of the 4,039 UK biotech firms with a known headcount, 3,335 (83%) have one to four people, 329 have five to nine, 308 have ten to 49 and 67 have 50 or more. Most firms turn over under $100,000 a year (1,750, 43%).

EU size bands · the grey line shows all UK companies

Micro under 103,664 91%
Small 10 to 49308 8%
Medium 50 to 24959 1%
Large 250+8 0.2%

Grey line: the share among all UK companies (93% have under ten staff).

firms turn over more than $5 million a year; 60 more than $10 million.

406

firms were entered in 2026.

Largest biotech firms in the UK

The biggest firms by staff and by revenue, the largest in London. Click a name for the record.

Ucb Biopharma SRL is the largest biotech firm in the UK by headcount. 67 firms employ 50 people or more; 30 employ 100 or more.

1SloughForeign company1,344 staff
2Buckinghamshire1,102 staff
3Reading763 staff
4HampshireForeign company706 staff
5Cardiff697 staff
6Nottingham621 staff
7London553 staff
8Cambridgeshire500 staff
9Cambridgeshire450 staff
10Windsor and Maidenhead395 staff

By employee size · 4,039 firms with a known headcount

Employees	Firms	%
1-4	3,335	83%
5-9	329	8%
10-19	180	4%
20-49	128	3%
50-99	37	0.9%
100-199	15	0.4%
200-499	7	0.2%
500-999	6	0.1%
1,000+	2	<0.1%

83% have 1 to 4 people; 128 have 20 to 49; 67 have 50 or more.

By yearly revenue (USD)

Revenue	Firms	%
< $100K	1,750	43%
$100K-$500K	1,674	41%
$500K-$1M	249	6%
$1M-$5M	285	7%
$5M-$10M	34	0.8%
$10M-$50M	44	1%
$50M-$100M	7	0.2%
$100M-$500M	6	0.1%
$500M+	3	<0.1%

43% under $100,000; 285 between $1M and $5M; 94 above $5M.

The oldest firms in the UK

Our data holds 0 UK biotech firms from before 1900, 1 from before 1950 and 18 from before 1990.

1938
1. London
1953
1. HampshireForeign company
1974
1. City of Edinburgh
1977
1. Kent
1978
1. Falkirk
1980
1. Slough

Fewer than five firms date from before 1950, so the timeline starts with the oldest firms before 1990.

Older than you

Live tool

Move the slider to a year. Two live counts, scoped to this industry.

1990

UK biotech firms date from before 1990

were entered in 1990

Sole traders or Ltd: how they are organised

One in 816 UK biotech firms work as sole traders, against 7% of all UK companies. Nearly all are Ltd and PLC.

Sole traders50.1%
Partnerships (partnerships and LLPs)2<0.1%
Ltd and PLC4,03499%
No form on record or other380.9%

Single-site: 93%
Head offices: 260
Branches: 15

All UK companies: 7% sole traders, 3% partnerships, 62% Ltd and PLC.

How reachable are they?

Biotech firms are harder to reach than the average UK company: 17% list a phone number and 20% a website.

Email359 9%
Phone685 17%
Website812 20%

Grey line: all UK companies (email 15%, phone 30%, website 30%).

The full list with these fields is in our UK company database.

How they compare

Next to related industries

There are 83 technology companies for every biotech firm in the UK.

Industry	Firms	Website	1-4 staff
Technology Companies	337,085	24%	92%
Healthcare Companies	248,238	38%	78%
Chemical Companies	9,751	41%	72%
Biotech Companies	4,079	20%	82%
Medical Device Companies	3,660	45%	65%
Pharmaceutical Companies	634	34%	63%

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Newcomers in the UK in 2026

406 biotech firms were entered in the UK register so far in 2026, about 2 a working day, after 552 in 2025. The UK as a whole saw 534,395 new companies in 2026, so this industry takes <0.1% of the inflow.

2032022
3102023
4222024
5522025
4062026 so far

406 of this year's 406 are Ltd and PLC.

The biggest newcomers of 2026

The year is the register entry; an established firm that changes legal form appears as new.

1London58 staff
2Derbyshire4 staff
3Glasgow City3 staff
4Essex3 staff
5London3 staff

Frequently asked questions

How many biotech companies are there in the UK?

There are 4,079 biotech companies and biotech firms in the UK in our data, counted on 21 October 2026. That is one in every 2,166 UK companies.

Which is the largest biotech firm in the UK?

Ucb Biopharma SRL in Slough, with 1,344 staff. By revenue Astex Therapeutics in Cambridgeshire leads with $534.0 million a year.

Which UK region has the most biotech companies?

London, with 1,334, ahead of South East (637), East of England (626), North West (339) and Scotland (254). Relative to its size, East of England has the most: 1.6 times the national share.

How many biotech firms are there in London?

1,334, which is <0.1% of all 1,945,804 London companies and 49% above the national share.

How big is a typical biotech firm?

Small. 83% of the 4,039 firms with a known headcount have one to four people; 67 have 50 or more. Most turn over under $100,000 a year.

Are UK biotech companies sole traders or companies?

One in 816 (5) are sole traders, <0.1% are partnerships and 99% (4,034) are Ltd and PLC.

How many biotech firms started in 2026?

406 were entered in the UK register so far in 2026, after 552 in 2025. 406 of them are Ltd and PLC.

What is the oldest biotech firm in the UK?

Perry Foundation in London, 1938, followed by Eniprogetti S.P.A. in Hampshire (1953) and The Scotch Whisky Research Institute in City of Edinburgh (1974). 0 firms date from before 1900.

Which industry code covers biotech companies?

Our platform filters them on the national code 72110.

Can I download the full list?

Yes. All 4,079 firms with address, phone, email, legal form, employees, revenue and founding year, as Excel, CSV or through the API.

Discover more: related industries, by region, in other countries

The lists closest to this one. Every industry and city in the UK is on the UK page.

In the UK

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