Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to invest £800m in UK life sciences sector

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and the UK Government have announced a joint £1bn investment in the UK life sciences sector.

Mubadala will invest £800m, while the UK will pitch in £200m, part of the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP). Over five years, the SIP will invest across several tech and innovation-led sectors such as energy transition and infrastructure.

Mubadala says it will also connect UK industries to research and innovation initiatives across its global network spanning more than 50 countries.

The life sciences sector generates £80bn in turnover a year within the UK and employs more than 250,000 people. The SIP’s inaugural life sciences investments are expected to complete later this year.

“The UAE and UK are aligned on the importance of global action on critical priorities such as healthcare innovation and delivery, climate change and the sustainable growth of high-skilled industries,” said Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, MD and Group CEO of Mubadala.

“Coordination on investment and global innovation ecosystems is vital to enabling progress against these challenges and presents a significant post-Covid economic opportunity for the UK and UAE,” he added.

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One of Mubadala’s earliest partnerships was with the Imperial College of London, which has several health care facilities in the UAE treating acute diabetes. Its healthcare portfolio includes Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala is already one of the largest and longest-standing investors in UK clean energy infrastructure, with significant investments in wind farms off Norfolk, near Hywind, Scotland and in the Thames estuary.