UK pharmaceutical investment competitiveness benchmark 2026: Green shoots, global competition, and the case for delivery
Annual Core Metrics Edition
- UK competitive
- UK semi-competitive
- UK uncompetitive
- Change in UK rank since 2025
General considerations
Talent & workforce
Level of expertise
Graduates with degrees in natural sciences, mathematics or statistics (%)
Country rankings for Level of expertise.
-
8.47
-
8.30
-
8.21
-
8.06
-
7.98
-
7.97
-
7.81
-
6.93
-
4.98
-
4.50
-
4.27
Ease of immigration
Costs for skilled worker visa (£)
Country rankings for Ease of immigration.
-
21
-
170
-
172
-
209
-
248
-
276
-
278
-
442
-
675
-
850
-
956
-
7829
-
12451
Political stability
Political stability (index)
Country rankings for Political stability.
-
86.9
-
85.3
-
82.6
-
78.0
-
76.1
-
71.2
-
70.3
-
68.0
-
68.0
-
65.8
-
64.3
-
63.3
-
61.8
Economic stability
Sovereign economic risk (index)
Country rankings for Economic stability.
-
AAA
-
AAA
-
AAA
-
AAA
-
AA+
-
AA+
-
AA
-
AA
-
A+
-
A+
-
A+
-
A+
-
BBB+
Length of additional patent-based protection
Maximum duration of additional patent-based protection [excluding extensions for paediatric research] (years)
Country rankings for Length of additional patent-based protection.
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
2
Length of data-based protection (synthetics)
Period of market exclusivity based on protection of regulatory data [excluding extensions for new indications] (years)
Country rankings for Length of data-based protection (synthetics).
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
8
-
8
-
6
-
5
-
5
Length of data-based protection (biologics)
Period of market exclusivity based on protection of regulatory data [excluding extensions for new indications] (years)
Country rankings for Length of data-based protection (biologics).
-
12
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
8
-
8
-
6
-
5
Medicines availability
New medicines fully available compared with licence (%)
Country rankings for Medicines availability.
-
93
-
73
-
50
-
49
-
33
-
33
-
30
-
26
Medicines adoption
Median year 3 uptake of NICE-approved new medicines (days of therapy per capita)
Country rankings for Medicines adoption.
-
5.5
-
4.7
-
4.5
-
2.9
-
2.3
Medicines spend
Spending on new, innovative medicines per capita (% of GDP)
Country rankings for Medicines spend.
-
0.78
-
0.53
-
0.46
-
0.40
-
0.36
-
0.32
-
0.29
-
0.28
Clawback rate
Average clawback rate (% of revenue)
Country rankings for Clawback rate.
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
6.45
-
6.83
-
7
-
7.5
-
7.86
-
9
-
14.5
Marketing authorisation approval time
Median days to obtain marketing authorisation approval for new active substances
Country rankings for Marketing authorisation approval time.
-
292
-
322
-
369
-
378
-
413
-
448
-
448
-
448
-
448
-
448
-
448
Research incentives
Implied tax subsidy rates on R&D expenditure for profitable large companies
Country rankings for Research incentives.
-
0.36
-
0.33
-
0.32
-
0.27
-
0.22
-
0.18
-
0.17
-
0.16
-
0.14
-
0.09
-
0.07
-
-0.01
Research incentives
Statutory corporate income tax rates (%)
Country rankings for Research incentives.
-
12.50
-
17.00
-
19.61
-
25.00
-
25.00
-
25.00
-
25.00
-
25.57
-
25.98
-
27.81
-
29.74
-
30.06
-
36.13
Commercialisation incentives
Patent box, lowest possible effective tax rates (%)
Country rankings for Commercialisation incentives.
-
3.75
-
5
-
8.23
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
14.45
AI infrastructure
Number of data centres
Country rankings for AI infrastructure.
-
5427
-
529
-
523
-
449
-
337
-
322
-
222
-
168
AI commercialisation
Number of newly funded AI companies
Country rankings for AI commercialisation.
-
1953
-
172
-
161
-
92
-
84
-
79
-
56
-
49
-
38
-
34
-
33
AI research ecosystem
Number of notable AI models (biology and medicine)
Country rankings for AI research ecosystem.
-
39
-
13
-
9
-
6
-
3
-
2
-
2
Pre-clinical research
Reputation
Number of top 100 universities for life sciences and medicine degrees
Country rankings for Reputation.
-
30
-
16
-
5
-
5
-
4
-
3
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
1
Quality of research output
Global share of most highly cited (top 1%) medical publications (%)
Country rankings for Quality of research output.
-
1.9
-
1.8
-
1.7
-
1.7
-
1.7
-
1.1
-
1.1
-
0.9
Quality of research output
Nature Index for high-quality research outputs in selected journals for health sciences
Country rankings for Quality of research output.
-
12247
-
8461
-
3407
-
2633
-
2011
-
1815
-
1434
-
1270
-
1252
-
1163
-
695
-
516
-
252
Research commercialisation
Number of biotechnology companies
Country rankings for Research commercialisation.
-
9066
-
2424
-
1606
-
1329
-
1126
-
959
-
794
-
580
-
549
-
467
-
332
-
211
-
143
Research commercialisation
Venture capital raised by biotechs (£ million)
Country rankings for Research commercialisation.
-
15515
-
1785
-
807
-
600
-
448
Government funding
Government budget allocations for health R&D (% of GDP)
Country rankings for Government funding.
-
0.17
-
0.12
-
0.07
-
0.07
-
0.07
-
0.06
-
0.06
-
0.03
-
0.01
-
0.01
-
0.00
Government research
Expenditure on medical R&D performed by government (% of GDP)
Country rankings for Government research.
-
0.14
-
0.09
-
0.04
-
0.04
-
0.03
-
0.02
-
0.01
-
0.01
-
0.00
Non-profit research
Expenditure on medical R&D performed by the private non-profit sector (% of GDP)
Country rankings for Non-profit research.
-
0.07
-
0.04
-
0.04
-
0.04
-
0.04
-
0.02
-
0.02
-
0.01
-
0.00
-
0.00
University research
Expenditure on medical R&D performed by the higher education sector (% of GDP)
Country rankings for University research.
-
0.19
-
0.17
-
0.13
-
0.13
-
0.09
-
0.08
-
0.07
-
0.07
-
0.05
-
0.05
Clinical research
Research capacity
Number of clinical trial sites per million population (thousands)
Country rankings for Research capacity.
-
18.1
-
18.1
-
17.8
-
14.9
-
12.5
-
11.2
-
10.4
-
10.1
-
9.6
-
9.0
-
8.6
-
6.3
-
1.0
Research intensity
Number of hospitals delivering over 100 industry clinical trials
Country rankings for Research intensity.
-
933
-
127
-
104
-
97
-
85
-
60
-
56
-
51
-
40
-
21
-
5
-
3
-
2
Medicines availability
New medicines fully available compared with licence (%)
Country rankings for Medicines availability.
-
93
-
73
-
50
-
49
-
33
-
33
-
30
-
26
Medicines adoption
Median year 3 uptake of NICE-approved new medicines (days of therapy per capita)
Country rankings for Medicines adoption.
-
5.5
-
4.7
-
4.5
-
2.9
-
2.3
Study set-up
Median days from clinical trial application to first patient, first dose
Country rankings for Study set-up.
-
174
-
239
-
250
-
252
-
285
-
287
-
300
-
338
Advanced therapies
Number of cell and gene therapy clinical trials initiated
Country rankings for Advanced therapies.
-
346
-
278
-
47
-
36
-
33
-
32
-
29
-
26
-
24
-
10
-
9
-
6
-
2
Scale of enrolment
Global share of patients recruited to a subset of commercial trials (%)
Country rankings for Scale of enrolment.
-
35.2
-
4.3
-
3.2
-
2.9
-
2.7
-
2.4
-
2.1
-
0.2
Manufacturing and distribution
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Value of global exports of pharmaceutical products (£ billion)
Country rankings for Pharmaceutical manufacturing.
-
102.9
-
102.1
-
93.5
-
92.1
-
49.7
-
47.9
-
45.5
-
35.1
-
24.7
-
16.8
-
12.1
-
9.1
-
8.7
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Share of global exports of pharmaceutical products (%)
Country rankings for Pharmaceutical manufacturing.
-
13.50
-
11.10
-
10.50
-
10.30
-
6.13
-
5.89
-
4.64
-
3.10
-
2.45
-
1.96
-
1.79
-
1.71
-
1.34
Availability of renewables
Share of total energy supply from renewable sources (%)
Country rankings for Availability of renewables.
-
20.5
-
15.5
-
15.2
-
14.9
-
14.3
-
14.2
-
9.2
-
8.2
-
8.1
-
7.2
-
7.2
-
0.4
Availability of renewables
Generation of energy from renewable sources (GW)
Country rankings for Availability of renewables.
-
2258.0
-
467.9
-
199.9
-
134.5
-
110.5
-
98.6
-
83.6
-
78.3
-
65.1
-
25.6
-
17.1
-
8.1
-
1.7
Ease of obtaining approvals
Operational efficiency of establishing a business location (index)
Country rankings for Ease of obtaining approvals.
-
89.98
-
81.29
-
72.87
-
69.36
-
68.71
-
67.88
-
52.82
-
41.54
Energy costs
Industrial electricity prices excluding taxes (pence per kWh)
Country rankings for Energy costs.
-
6.55
-
11.39
-
11.82
-
12.26
-
12.82
-
14.65
-
15.08
-
20.56
-
22.72
-
24.91
Ease of compliance
Time and cost to comply with export and import requirements (index)
Country rankings for Ease of compliance.
-
78.81
-
71.37
-
70.96
-
67.67
-
66.61
-
60.82
-
43.3
Trade infrastructure
Digital and physical trade infrastructure (index)
Country rankings for Trade infrastructure.
-
46.25
-
42.38
-
40
-
33.53
-
31.31
-
29.58
-
25.78
Cell therapy manufacturing
Share of global exports of cell therapy products (%)
Country rankings for Cell therapy manufacturing.
-
48.50
-
12.10
-
11.00
-
1.24
-
0.92
-
0.81
-
0.44
-
0.38
-
0.07
-
0.03
-
0.01
-
0.00
-
0.00
Headquarters and affiliates
Established industry
Number of pharmaceutical companies
Country rankings for Established industry.
-
927
-
403
-
120
-
119
-
119
-
95
-
87
-
85
-
83
-
75
-
55
-
37
-
25
Emerging industry
Number of biotechnology companies
Country rankings for Emerging industry.
-
9066
-
2424
-
1606
-
1329
-
1126
-
959
-
794
-
580
-
549
-
467
-
332
-
211
-
143
Medicines availability
New medicines fully available compared with licence (%)
Country rankings for Medicines availability.
-
93
-
73
-
50
-
49
-
33
-
33
-
30
-
26
Medicines adoption
Median year 3 uptake of NICE-approved new medicines (days of therapy per capita)
Country rankings for Medicines adoption.
-
5.5
-
4.7
-
4.5
-
2.9
-
2.3
Last reviewed date: 05 August 2026
Next review date: 05 August 2029