Oxfordshire: Leading the Way in Life Sciences and Healthcare
Groundbreaking advancements are being made across various fields including drug discovery, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, regenerative medicine, precision medicine, and genomics with Oxfordshire’s life sciences capabilities sat right at the forefront of it.
Our world-leading research and teaching institutions provide the ideas and talent necessary to develop technologies, making us a global powerhouse for clinical trials.
What makes Oxfordshire standout:
Located in the UK’s ‘Golden Triangle’ alongside Cambridge and London, Oxfordshire is a hub of expertise and economic growth in life sciences and health.
Our cluster of companies fosters collaboration and drives innovation through multidisciplinary partnerships. Other standout aspects include:
- Being home to national assets such as the Rosalind Franklin Research Institute, Diamond Light Source, and STFC’s Central Laser Facility at Harwell Campus, as well as the Structural Genomics Consortium.
- Nurturing world-leading spinouts from the University of Oxford including; Oxford Nanopore, Immunocore and Adaptimmune,
- We also boast an array of foreign-owned companies that have recentlyexpanded or established operations in Oxfordshire, such as Novo Nordisk, Intuitive Surgical, Abbott Diabetes Care, Intrexon, Evotec, Sysmex, Agilent, and Vertex.
Oxford Nanopore operates as one of the leading life sciences companies anywhere in the world, with track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market.
Find out more on Oxfordshire’s life sciences sector, its history and significant capabilities:
Oxfordshire’s response to COVID-19
When the world was unsure about COVID-19, Oxfordshire’s scientists were already mobilizing. With a well-established life sciences ecosystem, we quickly responded to the pandemic.
On January 4, 2021, at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, 82-year-old Brian Pinker became the first patient to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. This marked a significant milestone for a vaccine development process that typically takes years.
By that day, over half a million doses of the vaccine were ready for use, and the UK government had already ordered an additional 100 million doses – enough to vaccinate most of the UK population.
Highlights of our response include:
Virology, genomics, and structural biology research.
Vaccine and treatment research, clinical trials, and manufacturing.
Diagnostics development.
Data, digital services, and information sharing.
Medical device advancements.