Life sciences dealmaking volume is stable, but value is down. The 2025 edition of the EY Firepower report explores how life sciences companies can secure a more confident future with smarter, smaller deals.
Key takeaways from the EY 2025 Firepower analysis:
RSM UK’s co-leads of life sciences, Laragh Jeanroy and Graham Bond, highlight three key themes dominating the sector in 2025:
Tighter funding
The value of private equity (PE) buyouts in the UK life sciences sector jumped from £778m in 2023 to £5.3bn in 2024, according to Pitchbook. However, the number of deals has remained fairly steady over the years, increasing from 10 in 2023 to 13 in 2024. A large proportion of PE and venture capital investment in the sector focused on traditional pharmaceuticals last year.
Cancer Research UK, Cytovation and the Norwegian Cancer Society have signed an agreement to bring Cytovation’s lead asset, CY-101, into a multi-national Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC).
This rare and aggressive cancer, which affects the adrenal glands, has limited treatment options and an urgent need for new therapies.
London, January 23, 2025 – Coulter Partners, the global expert building leadership teams for Health, Science and Technology innovation businesses, successfully completed a search assignment for NeoPhore Limited and is pleased to announce the placement of Michael Shih as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board of Director.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/22/3013431/0/en/Cond…
Conduit Pharmaceuticals Partners with Agility Life Sciences to Create Enhanced Formulations for its Autoimmune Pipeline
• Award winning Agility Life Sciences brings a proven track record in drug formulation for a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.
Cambridge, UK, 20 January 2025: Metrion Biosciences (“Metrion”), the specialist preclinical contract research organisation (CRO) and a leader in ion channel screening, today announced it has been listed in The Sunday Times 100 Tech, Britain's fastest-growing private technology companies. The inaugural feature, published 19th January, highlights the UK’s fastest-growing private companies developing or selling unique, proprietary technologies, and is backed by Singer Capital Markets, HSBC Innovation Banking and BDO.
About RxCelerate
The RxCelerate group is an out-sourced drug development platform specialising in the design and delivery of complete drug discovery and development programs and project management for our clients spanning initial ideas through to Phase II clinical studies.
The Role
RxCelerate is seeking a skilled Laboratory Manager to oversee the biological and chemical laboratories, ensuring quality, safety, and efficiency in all laboratory operations.
• £500K grant to advance discovery and development of effective precision antibiotics targeting antimicrobial-resistant lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis
• Programme delivered by CF AMR Syndicate offers cross-sector collaboration and support to address urgent unmet need
Pioneer Group, the life science infrastructure and venture building specialist, has joined forces with Innovate UK, The Medical Research Council (MRC) and AstraZeneca, to deliver the AI in Health Accelerator 2024/2025 Programme.
The Accelerator is designed to help entrepreneurs confidently market their AI-driven healthcare solutions and accelerate novel technology development time to market. The partners will collaborate across all elements of the Accelerator Programme, including its design and operation.
Hoddesdon, UK
We are looking for:
A Technical Project Lead (Drug Product Development), a subject matter expert, to provide technical leadership in drug product development and support the execution of formulation development programs involving phase-appropriate formulations and processes to support clinical studies or client needs.