Not only is it Europe's biggest bio-manufacturing region, but it is also one of a handful of globally recognised bioscience communities. In total, the Northwest has around 200 biomedical companies operating across the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries. They are involved in a broad range of life science disciplines including drug development, research diagnostics, medical devices and healthcare products.
These businesses are responsible for employing 22,000 staff
across the region with over 13,000 people currently working in the
Bio/life science industries in Wirral. Among the global big hitters
based in the Northwest are six multinational pharmaceutical firms -
namely AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi Aventis, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novartis.
What's more, official figures show that in 2008 the Northwest
exported £3.8bn of pharmaceutical products - making it the UK's
best performing region.
The scale of the Northwest's biomedical sector has resulted in it being inextricably linked to the region's economic well-being. The sector is widely perceived to be in robust health due to the presence of the major global pharmaceutical and healthcare technology companies, the rapidly expanding biotechnology community and the renowned academic and clinical research strengths found here.