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Famous for its rugged coastline and scenic mountains, Wales is also home to a thriving life science industry. Supported by science parks, med-tech companies, and universities, the country has opened up avenues for a budding biotech sector, particularly for the development of startups. Having generated a £2.62 billion ($3.59 billion) turnover in 2022, according to Tritech, the life science and biotech sector seems to be on the rise in Wales.
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History of the biotech sector in Wales
The growth of the life sciences sector in Wales accelerated in the 1990s, when the Welsh government launched initiatives to promote the industry. The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was tasked with promoting economic development and attracting investment to Wales, according to Cari-Anne Quinn, chief executive officer (CEO) at Life Sciences Hub Wales. In the early 2000s, biotech companies like ReNeuron and Q chip, focused on cell therapies and drug delivery technologies, set up their businesses.
A £100 million ($120.6 million) investment by the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund was launched to help boost medical and biopharma companies in Wales. Life Sciences Hub, which was launched in 2014, also provided a focal point for the sector to catalyze innovation and collaboration between industry, health, social care, and academia, according to Quinn.
Quinn said that over the years, the industry has expanded into areas such as diagnostics, advanced therapies, and digital health, with a growing emphasis on collaboration between different organizations within the biotech sector.
Growth of biotech companies in Wales: “The industry has reached the tipping point”
According to Rhian Hayward, CEO of research and product development company AberInnovation, “the industry has reached the tipping point where it is thriving now.”
AberInnovation’s Biorefining Centre has been designed to support industrial biotechnology to study new microbes and enzymes that can help with industrial processing.
Hayward said: “The pilot scale facility for extracting, analyzing, and optimizing chemicals from biomass and process sidestreams, with integral industrial biotechnology and a food-grade environment, allows us to investigate ways of accelerating the shift towards a circular economy and extracting valuable chemicals from waste streams.”
The Welsh company, which is based in Aberystwyth, offers biotech startups early-stage business support through funding programs and access to its facilities.
“We recently launched a ‘grow on space’ for rapidly growing companies in our community to ensure they are able to continue to grow and recruit additional staff,” said Hayward.
The Life Sciences Hub also provides support for the growth of biotech companies in Wales. Affiliated to the Welsh government, Life Sciences Hub scouts for innovative products to support specific healthcare challenges and connects biotech companies with investment opportunities.
For biotech startups in particular, the organization offers business support and connects them with the National Health Service (NHS) and universities to collaborate on innovations like vaccine development, according to Cari-Anne Quinn.
As biotech startups navigate the growing biotech sector in Wales, here are five companies that are making waves in 2025.
Jellagen
- Founded in 2013
- Technology: Tissue engineering
- Latest funding: $10.5 million investment
Known for their venomous sting, jellyfish are boneless creatures rich in collagenous proteins. Collagen, which is used as a dietary supplement owing to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, is also a key component in scientific research.
Cardiff-based biotech company Jellagen developed Jellagel, a jellyfish collagen hydrogel used for in vitro cell culture and tissue engineering. Jellagel offers a non-mammalian alternative to commercially-available mammalian hydrogels, which avoids the risk of disease and virus transfer in humans.
Founded in 2013, the startup also creates collagen-coated plates, which are beneficial for cell culture research, as well as medical-grade materials like collagen powder and dressings for wound care and reconstructive surgery.
In December 2022, the biotech company received £8.7 million ($10.5 million) in funding from investors like Cardiff Capital Region and the Development Bank of Wales to develop Collagen Type 0 in order to expand research in regenerative medicine. Jellagen collaborated with U.S.-based medical center Mayo Clinic to corroborate its successful preclinical trials.
CanSense
- Founded in 2018
- Technology: AI-based blood tests for cancer detection
- Latest funding: $1.7 million grant
Around 1.9 million people across the world were diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Wales. Early detection of the disease provides the best chance for successful treatment.
Swansea-based biotech company CanSense is set to improve the scope for early diagnosis of bowel cancer through blood tests developed using artificial intelligence (AI). The tests aim to eliminate the need for invasive methods like colonoscopies and provide results in 48 hours.
As colonoscopies cost at least $4.2 billion globally, Britain’s NHS has been predicted to save around £300 million ($362 million) a year once the blood tests are procured.
Affiliated with Swansea University, the biotech company has received funding from Cancer Research Wales and Health and Care Research Wales for the project. In 2023, CanSense received £1.5 million ($1.7 million) from the National Institute for Health and Care Research to develop the blood test for healthcare facilities across Wales.
This year, CanSense and Swansea University were declared the winners of the Innovation in Women’s Cancer Accelerator Fund. To add to that, the Welsh biotech’s partnership with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Assistive Technologies Innovation Centre (ATiC) and the TriTech Institute successfully came to an end in May, having developed the CanSense-CRC blood test for the early detection of bowel cancer.
Copner Biotech
- Founded in 2020
- Technology: 3D cell culture technology
- Latest funding: $274,683 grant
Established in 2020, Copner Biotech specializes in 3D cell culture technology and manufactures 3D cell culture scaffolds. The regions on the scaffold are differentiated based on the cell’s nutrient and oxygen exchange, which represents physiological conditions in the body.
Based in Ebbw Vale in Wales, Copner Biotech collaborated with Jellagen to create a 3D extrusion Bio Printer that uses a specific droplet optimization protocol to improve user experience. In November 2022, Copner and Jellagen received around £400,000 ($483,000) in funding from Innovate UK to develop a 3D Inkjet bioprinting system and software platform and won the MediWales Innovation Start-Up Award for its development in cell culture technology.
Over the past year, Copner has made quite the impression in the life sciences world. It won the Global Health & Pharma (GHP) Biotechnology Award and bagged a £200,000 ($274,683) research grant from the Welsh Government towards engineering vascular and organoid tissue.
More recently, it secured the three Business Development Grants from Blaenau Gwent in Wales. It also joined hands with Glasgow University to boost prostate cancer research.
Amped PCR
- Founded in 2022
- Technology: Molecular biology
- Latest funding: $137,165 grant
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a technique that has revolutionized molecular biology and is key in the detection of infectious diseases. However, the high cost of PCR reagents makes it hard for many researchers to conduct their studies.
Amped PCR, a biotech company based in Bethania, in North Wales, is looking to change that. Founded in 2022, the biotech startup manufactures PCR reagent, and it commercially released Amped PCR Universal, PCR mix kits suitable for researchers, priced at £249 ($341.51).
The young biotech was awarded £100,000 ($1,37,165.74) funding from the UK Research and Innovation to accelerate the development of an AI data dashboard for its PurifAI system, which combines PCR technology and machine learning to improve pathogen testing. It has also been backed by the Welsh Government.
Previously, it won £60,000 ($72,400) through AberInnovation’s BioAccelerate program for innovative business ideas. Amped aims to continue research and hopes to use its tests in farm veterinary applications.
Antiverse
- Founded in 2017
- Technology: Antibody discovery and development
- Latest funding: $4.6 million investment
AI has accelerated innovation in the world of biotech. Over the years, it has bolstered antibody discovery, critical to clinical diagnostics and therapeutic treatments. Biopharma company Antiverse engineers novel antibodies against GPCRs and ion channels, which are difficult targets.
Established in 2017 in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, the company develops cell lines for receptor expression and AI-based libraries to boost antibody discovery. Now, it has begun a collaboration with Japanese biotech Nxera Pharma to design antibodies against several GPCRs.
Late last year, Antiverse snapped up £3.5 million ($4.6 million) in funding to build its generative AI antibody platform.
In the past, it secured $3 million in funding to set up a laboratory as well as to hire structural biologists and engineers to aid in drug discovery. Moreover, it collaborated with Cardiff University’s Cardiff Innovations to continue research and development projects in therapeutics back in 2023.
Making Wales a place of choice
Hayward hopes that the biotech industry “further demonstrates its ability to play a fundamental role in helping to solve societal and economic challenges.” Hayward believes that as Welsh universities have science parks that offer to facilitate a pipeline of spin-outs and startups in the biotech industry, this can promote the close connection between research institutions and support their growth.
However, the industry is not without its challenges, which include high development costs, access to funding, and attracting and retaining top talent, which can significantly affect the growth of startups.
Quinn believes that despite these challenges, the sector continues to grow and innovate, and is driven by a strong focus on collaboration and innovation. She looks forward to development in AI and gene therapies, with a focus on sustainability.
Moreover, university spinouts like ARCITEKBio are also opening up the life sciences industry in Wales. The startup is focused on developing EcoXyl, derived from the natural sugar xylitol. The diabetic- and tooth-friendly natural sweetener is being extracted from feedstocks to minimize waste. Like Copner, It was awarded funds from the Welsh government to fuel production.
In recent times, the Welsh government has ramped up funding towards the life sciences. Other companies that received funding in the past year were Bridgend-based Zoobiotic, which develops products from larval secretions, and med-techs like Swansea-based wound care company Corryn Biotechnologies.
Quinn said: “In Wales, we recognize a virtuous cycle between health and wealth and hope to see continued growth for the industry with even greater collaboration between industry, the NHS, and academia, making Wales a place of choice for biotech development.”
This article was originally published in March 2023 and has since been updated.
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