When it comes to genomics, England and the United Kingdom are at the cutting edge, and the UK government aims for England to become the global leader in genomic healthcare. The Department of Health and Social Care has published a strategy to apply genomics widely in public healthcare to prevent and detect common cancers and rare diseases across England. The strategy includes £178m of investment in research, national health service (NHS) partnerships, cancer diagnosis and community engagement.
Across the UK, private investment is also growing. From 2017 to 2021, private investment in genomics grew from £92m to £718m. In 2022, over half of genomics companies in the country were in the seed-stage, showing early-stage startups and innovation are at home in the sector.
What is genomics?
Genomics is the study of genomes, which is an organism’s genetic information. There are an estimated 20,000-25,000 genes that make up the human genome, which contain the code for proteins. Proteins make up our organs, cells, and control chemical reactions and communication between cells. Genomic research is complex, but has a huge amount of potential medical applications.
In 2022, the World Health Organisation’s Science Council called for the acceleration of access to genomics to less-resourced countries. Its applications across medicine, agriculture, and biology offer an opportunity to make public health more equitable worldwide. Genomic medicine can be used to survey populations for viruses such as COVID-19, and predict and treat cancers and developmental disorders. It’s expected that in the future, genomics will be able to help people diagnose illnesses and predict future health risks based on family histories. For example, people could have whole genome sequencing (WGS) to test for rare or inherited conditions.
Spotlighting six companies in genomics
There are currently 163 high-growth private companies working in genomics in England. Nearly £3bn has been raised over the last 15 years—the top funders are located in Cambridge, with University of Cambridge Seed Funds and University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund leading the way in number of fundraisings. In today’s article, we’re examining six of the most interesting companies—in our humble opinion—headquartered in England in the genomics sector.
Want to find out more about the UK’s most exciting companies in niche sectors such as agritech and contech? Book a demo with one of our experts for access to powerful data like this. Otherwise, read on and we’ll dive into some of the most exciting companies in the genomics industry—including the company that has received the most funding, the company that’s received the most grants, and companies that are using technology to create more targeted healthcare treatments.
