Pharma companies driving UK R&D

UK pharmaceutical companies are helping to drive forward research and development (R&D) in the UK, new research shows.

A report by tax credit specialists RIFT Research and Development examined which countries are home to the biggest average R&D spenders – based on those that feature in the Strategy and Global Innovation Top 1000.

Switzerland currently leads the way, with listed companies having an average R&D spend of 8.4% every year.

The UK comes in at seventh of the list with the R&D spend of listed companies accounting for 3.6% of revenue in 2019.

Leading the way for UK R&D spenders is GW Pharmaceuticals, which invested £115 million into R&D in 2019 – accounting for 1,349.9% of their total revenue for the year.

In second place is Circassia Pharmaceuticals which committed to an annual spend of £101 million into R&D – 210% of its revenue for the year.

Micro Focus International, BTG, Sophos Group, AstraZeneca, Dialog Semiconductor, Travelport Worldwide Limited and GlaxoSmithKline also ranked as some of the UK’s biggest names in R&D spend, committing upwards of 15% of annual revenue to research and development in their sectors.  

Director of RIFT Research and Development, Sarah Collins commented: “Research and development has become a big business and this is demonstrated by some of the huge spends across some of the biggest companies operating in the UK.

However, while certain names are helping drive R&D within the UK at the very highest level, we still have some way to go before we catch the national frontrunners elsewhere around the world.

The great thing about R&D is that claims aren’t limited to these giants and regardless of how established your company is, any work done to progress your sector can qualify and help push the UK to the top of the table.”