A new report released by the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) showed that the UK received the highest amount of biotech funding compared to anywhere else in Europe last year, and its pipeline for future drug development was the strongest in the region.

Despite Brexit and the US presidential election having a cooling effect on global markets during 2016, the sector still saw robust investment from venture capital funds, with many companies also returning for follow-on funding on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) as well as seven IPOs taking place for UK-listed companies.

The report - Building something great: UK’s Global Bioscience Cluster 2016 - revealed that UK companies received £680 million in venture capital, which was more than a third of the total raised in Europe. The country still lagged behind the US biotech clusters of San Francisco and Massachusetts, but was ahead of San Diego. There was also a rise in seed funding to £14 million, up from £11 million in 2015, which BIA said boded well for the future.

The combined venture capital of the UK and Switzerland has now reached 55% of the European total, which would mean that more than half of European venture capital would be deployed outside the EU post-Brexit, if the current trend is maintained.

The number of biotech financings through AIM rose from 130 (including eight IPOs) in 2015 to 175 (including seven IPOs) in 2016. In addition, the number of drug products in clinical development (or in registration with regulators) was higher in the UK than anywhere else in Europe.

The association said the findings illustrated that the UK is better placed to realize the value of its science base as companies own their technology for longer, which means that they are able to scale up. BIA CEO, Steve Bates, said the UK continues to build towards becoming the third global biotech cluster thanks to its excellent science and great management teams that have the capability to tackle the challenges of working in a global environment.