Transformation Year For The Life Sciences Sector In The United Kingdom

The UK Life Sciences sector Landscape

Life Sciences companies are basically those companies, who are engaged in activities or businesses that work towards enhancing the lives of all organisms, whether its animal, human or natural life. Life Sciences is a very broad term, which can be further divided into different segments such as Pharmaceutical and Biotech, Environmental Science, Cell Biology, Neuroscience, Biophysics as well as Biomedicine. Any aspect of science that has something to do with the exploration and improvement of human, plant and animal life can be characterised as a segment of the life sciences sector. As far as human wellbeing is considered, this industry is vital for knowing the origins as well as remedies to diseases. The industry additionally has advantages from environmental science as this subcategory supports in preserving the environment, especially in today’s era, when climate change has become a serious issue. Pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals manage the research, diagnosis and making of disease-fighting drugs and supplements.

In the United Kingdom, the Life Sciences industry has been one of the biggest fundraisers. One research published in March 2019 reportedly suggested that average funding received by Life Sciences companies has been £3.43 million. This is almost double as compared to the average funding received by companies across all sectors, which was around £1.8 million. This also means that these companies require more capital to operate than others, while the investors are interested in funding these companies because they are very positive on the outlook of this sector.

Life Sciences Outlook for 2020

Since Life Sciences is based on the improvement of the lives of organisms, especially humans, data has played a critical role in the development of this sector. With a strong scientific community and a proven record of developing new and innovative products, UK is becoming one of the major hubs for the Life Sciences sector across the world. And this is set to improve even further in 2020, mainly driven by areas like MedTech. Data will help in solving any challenges in this area with techniques such as the Internet of Things, machine learning, additive manufacturing, and augmented reality. Apart from  MedTech, the following areas are set to be the major factors that will have an impact on the Life Sciences area:

1. Health care delivery systems – The year 2020 will see a rise in companies and pharmacies entering into the delivery services, leveraging the digital revolution, especially for the purpose of catering to senior citizens, and individuals who live alone and are unable to go to pharmacies to buy drugs.
2. Wearables – We have already seen the surge in use of wearables such as Apple Watch and Fitbit, that operate by providing health tracking services, through devices such as smart- watches and mobile applications. If the experts in this area are to be believed, the technology will develop to an extent where these wearables will be able to conduct thorough health check- ups in the very near future.
3. Informed Patients – We live in a world, where internet provides the answers for everything, which has made the patients extremely concerned. This allows two things to happen; patients can take care of themselves up to a large extent by making informed decisions regarding their health, as well as enabling health care professions to take better care of their patients through clinical facilities.
4. Regulation – A major segment of the Life Sciences area is Cannabis, which has already been legalised into the medical systems of various countries, such as the Netherlands and many parts of the United States. The UK is yet to have legislations around both the medical as well as recreational use of Marijuana, but the growing demand around the product has forced the hands of the administration to put a legislation into place. This will be a major area of focus in 2020. Regulation around the pricing of the drugs, patient safety as well as Medical Insurance services will also be major talking points that will shape up the industry during the year.

As stated, 2020 is going to be a transformational year for the Life Sciences industry in the United Kingdom. This transformation will be closely associated with the performance of the Life Sciences companies listed on the FTSE. Here is a brief look at some of the key FTSE Life Sciences stocks that could see some movements during the year.

AMS Share Price Performance

As on 24^th January 2020, (08:30 A.M GMT), at the time of writing this report, Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc’s stock value has been reported to be at GBX 280.50 per stock on the LSE market, a fall in the value of 0.53 per cent or GBX 1.50 per stock, in comparison with the trading price of the stock on the previous day, that has been reported to be at GBX 282.00 per stock. While writing, the share of Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc was reported to have been trading 30.61 per cent above the 52-week low share price, that was GBX 214.76 per share, and the company set this price on September 13, 2019. Also, the share price was reported to have been trading 21.47 per cent lower than the 52-week high price of GBX 357.21, that the company achieved as on May 28, 2019. The market capitalisation of Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc was reported to be at £605.99 million with regards, to the price at which the company’s share was trading at the time of writing.

SIS Share Price Performance

As on 24^th January 2020, (08:35 A.M GMT), at the time of writing this report, Science in Sport Plc’s stock value has been reported to be at GBX 47.30 per stock on the LSE market, a drop in the value of 2.47 per cent or GBX 1.20 per stock, in comparison with the trading price of the stock on the previous day, that has been reported to be at GBX 48.50 per stock. While, writing, the share of Science in Sport Plc was reported to have been trading 19.75 per cent above the 52-week low share price, that was GBX 39.50 per share, and the company set this price on January 08, 2020. Also, the share price was reported to have been trading 29.09 per cent lower than the 52-week high price of GBX 66.70, that the company achieved as on July 15, 2019. The market capitalisation of Science in Sport Plc was reported to be at £59.57 million with regards, to the price at which the company’s share was trading at the time of writing.

VLG Share Price Performance

As on 24^th January 2020, (08:40 A.M GMT), at the time of writing this report, Venture Life Group Plc’s stock value has been reported to be at GBX 36.09 per stock on the LSE market, a drop in the value of 1.12 per cent or GBX 0.41 per stock, in comparison with the trading price of the stock on the previous day, that has been reported to be at GBX 36.50 per stock.  While writing, the share of Venture Life Group Plc was reported to have been trading 32.93 per cent above the 52-week low share price, that was GBX 27.15 per share, and the company set this price on December 02, 2019. Also, the share price was reported to have been trading 34.35 per cent lower than the 52-week high price of GBX 54.97, that the company achieved as on April 24, 2019. The market capitalisation of Venture Life Group Plc was reported to be at £30.55 million with regards, to the price at which the company’s share was trading at the time of writing.

TILS Share Price Performance

As on 24^th January 2020, at approximately 08:45 A.M GMT, at the time of writing this report, Tiziana Life Sciences Plc’s stock value has been reported to be at GBX 43.85 per stock on the LSE market, a surge in the value of 9.63 per cent or GBX 3.85 per stock, in comparison with the trading price of the stock on the previous day, that has been reported to be at GBX 40.00 per stock. While writing, the share of Tiziana Life Sciences Plc was reported to have been trading 68.01 per cent above the 52-week low share price, that was GBX 26.10 per share, and the company set this price on January 13, 2020. At this time, the share price was reported to have been trading 46.85 per cent lower than the 52-week high price of GBX 82.50, that the company achieved as on April 25, 2019. The market capitalisation of Tiziana Life Sciences Plc was reported to be at £54.66 million with regards, to the price at which the company’s share was trading at the time of writing.

Comparative share price chart of AMS, SIS, VLG and TILS

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on 24-January-20, before the closing of the LSE Market