Biotechnology industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Useful links

2023 Global Life Sciences Outlook
Annual report from Deloitte looking at issues driving change in the global life sciences sector.

Market research

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including biotechnology. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment – average during the year;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Research and experimental development on biotechnology (72.11)
See Section M: Professional, scientific and technical activities

Industry news

The Library can carry out industry news searches for ICAEW members and ACA students.

Statistics on the UK

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Research and experimental development on biotechnology (72.11)
See Section M: Professional, scientific and technical activities

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Research and experimental development on biotechnology (M7211)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Statistics on Asia and Oceania

APEC

The Agricultural Biotechnology Group of APEC is a leading initiative in the development of biotechnology in the agriculture sector within member economies

Countries covered by APEC:

Australia
Brunei
Canada
Chile
China
Chinese Taipei
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Japan
Republic of Korea
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
Thailand
United States
Vietnam.

Global statistics

OECD

The OECD compiles regularly updated key biotechnology indicators covering:

number of biotechnology firms
percentage of biotechnology firms with fewer than 50 employees
total biotechnology R&D expenditures in the business sector
biotechnology R&D intensity
percentage of biotechnology R&D performed in the services sector by dedicated biotechnology R&D firms
percentage of biotechnology R&D performed by small biotechnology R&D firms
R&D expenditures by the public sector
biotechnology R&D expenditures by the public sector as a percentage of public sector R&D
percentage of dedicated biotechnology firms by application
percentage of biotechnology R&D investments by application
share of countries in biotechnology patents filed under PCT
revealed technological advantage in biotechnology.

KPMG

From 1996 to 2016 KPMG produced the biennial report and database Competitive Alternatives comparing business costs and trends by location across mature and high growth markets around the world. Some documents are still available via MMK Consulting's Competitive Alternatives Study Archive which provide insight into cost components for the biomedical R&D sector.

Employment

UK

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Research and experimental development on biotechnology (72110)

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

chemists
biological scientists and biochemists
chemical engineers
scientific researchers.

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

Gov.uk gives information and guidance on Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sector: international trade regulations, covering importing, exporting and market trends in the life sciences sector.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has information on biosafety and microbiological containment and nanotechnology, which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.

Life sciences sector and the EU
Guidance published by GOV.UK for the life sciences sector on working with the EU from 1 January 2021.

BIA Brexit portal
Information and guidance from the BioIndustry Association (BIA) on the UK's future relationship with the EU for biotech businesses and the life sciences sector.

Europe

The EU provides a User Guide to European Regulation in Biotechnology, which aims to help organisations achieve regulatory compliance for their products and processes.

Import and export

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for: