Already leading the field in Europe, the capital has the scope and ingredients to meet all the coming challenges in the field<\/p>\n
This week, the world\u2019s business and health leaders are gathered in San Francisco at the JP Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference<\/a>. It\u2019s a chance for me, as Sir Sadiq Khan\u2019s Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, to meet industry, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology founders and members of the investment community. And as the chair of MedCity<\/a>, the body shaping and promoting London\u2019s dynamic life sciences sector, I\u2019ve been flying the flag for the capital as a global hub for life sciences and advancing its ambition to become the new world leader in health innovation.<\/p>\n I\u2019m struck by how familiar San Francisco feels to anyone who knows London well. The skylines may be different but the DNA is pretty similar. Both are global trading cities built on openness to international talent, to capital and to ideas. They thrive because brilliant people from everywhere come together to solve the hardest problems \u2013 often at the intersection of technology, academia, entrepreneurship and public good. That combination is exactly what defines world-leading life sciences clusters.<\/p>\n Our two cities have long shared the values of innovation and discovery \u2013 from finding penicillin, to uncovering the cause of cholera, our cities have been a beacon for research, learning and progress in many sectors. San Francisco Bay Area<\/a> and London are two of only three trillion dollar tech economies on planet Earth. We are magnets for business, investment and creativity.<\/p>\n What puts London in a unique position \u2013 and, right now, even more compelling for investment \u2013 is convergence. Life sciences, AI, data, finance, law, insurance and regulation sit closer together in London than anywhere else on earth. That proximity matters. It shortens the distance between discovery and deployment, between innovation and impact. All of this is underpinned by our world-class universities, unrivalled talent and, of course, our brilliant NHS with its unique and diverse data. It\u2019s why investors like JP Morgan have committed to building their new European HQ in London, alongside Google, Salesforce and other leading AI companies.<\/p>\n London has cemented its position as Europe\u2019s powerhouse for life sciences, with the sector attracting over \u00a31.6 billion in venture capital investment in 2025 \u2013 nearly double the amount raised in 2024 and more than Paris, Stockholm and Berlin combined.<\/p>\n In November, Sir Sadiq hosted a hugely successful London Life Sciences Week<\/a>, demonstrating our global leadership in the sector. Our city is home to over 2,700 scaling-up life sciences companies, three of the world\u2019s top 15 universities for health and clinical science, and 19 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies. This is a fast-growing ecosystem of innovation that drives commercial growth, with a lot more investment set to come.<\/p>\n With seven growing life sciences districts and clusters<\/a> in London, we are unlocking new spaces for science, innovation and technology, such as the development planned around the forthcoming HS2 station in Euston. By 2032, London will have an additional 6.2 million square feet of life science lab and office space, accommodating 80,000 direct jobs, which is more than the entire life sciences workforce of Sweden.<\/p>\n In case you are in any doubt, go to Canary Wharf, where the construction of Europe\u2019s largest and newest lab building is well underway. And of course that growth adds to the world-leading science and space already anchored in the \u201cgolden triangle\u201d of London, Oxford and Cambridge and supported by the wealth of activity across the UK. It\u2019s useful to remember that the UK is actually smaller than California, so all our nations, cities and regions should be working as one supercluster.<\/p>\n In the coming decades we are set to face some enormous challenges, from an ageing population to the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance. We all experienced the global pandemic of Covid-19. At the same time, breakthroughs in treatment, diagnostics and therapies are being made literally on a daily basis. Like San Francisco, London believes that innovation should be not just about economic growth but also making better lives for our citizens and tackling society\u2019s biggest challenges.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I\u2019m banging the drum for more investment in London alongside some of our most exciting start-up and scale-up companies, so that we remain at the forefront of developing the next generation of healthcare ideas that will directly and rapidly improve the lives of Londoners and people across the world.<\/p>\n Howard Dawber is London\u2019s Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth<\/a>. Follow him on Bluesky<\/a>. Photo: UCL East Marshgate at the Olympic Park, one of London\u2019s seven life sciences centres.<\/p>\n