Report calls for Biomedical Catalyst scheme to continue

The UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) has published the report The Biomedical Catalyst: making the case to continue.

Released following the last round of the current Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) funding allocation, the report gives a retrospective account of the current scheme and showcases ten case studies from companies that have received BMC funding.

To date, the BMC scheme has awarded over £250 million to accelerate medical research. Over 180 business-led projects have been supported with funds worth over £130 million and with a total project value of over £240 million. This means that over £100 million of additional private capital, in the form of matched funding, has been leveraged as a condition of the Biomedical Catalyst awards.

Furthermore, beyond the Biomedical Catalyst awards, post-award funded companies and academics have realised in excess of a further billion pounds in the form of additional private finance, grant funding, via licencing or acquisition.

This new BIA report demonstrates that the Biomedical Catalyst is a successful government policy that is underpinning the ongoing growth of the UK life sciences sector and calls for it to be continued in order to sustain this and ensure the ongoing contribution of the life sciences sector to overall UK economic growth.

Steve Bates, chief executive officer of the BIA, stated: “The Biomedical Catalyst fills a crucial structural gap in the UK investment pathway, early in company development where private sector investors will not venture alone. If this is removed or diluted, already invested SMEs will fall again into the funding valley of death and the whole life sciences ecosystem, and UK economic growth will suffer. As we head towards this year’s Spending Review our message is clear: the Biomedical Catalyst must be continued.”

The latest round of Biomedical Catalyst winners was announced on 08 August. The full announcement is available here. Recipients include BIA members Crescendo Biologics, Critical Pharmaceuticals, Domainex Limited, Eva Diagnostics, MISSION Therapeutics and Peptinnovate; covering a wide range of therapeutic areas from cancer, to asthma, to age-related macular degeneration.