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Biotech Companies in Sheffield: 28 Active Firms (2026)
Biotech companies develop biology-led therapies, diagnostics and research tools across Sheffield's life-sciences economy.
Buying conversations usually sit with research directors, translational science teams, laboratory operations and external-science functions rather than central procurement alone. The customer base is mostly B2B: pharmaceutical developers, academic laboratories, healthcare-adjacent research groups and specialist labs buying project work, assays, validation support or access to scientific capability. Engagements tend to be staged, moving from feasibility work into contract research, analytical services or collaboration agreements where evidence generation supports the next commercial decision.
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Sheffield has 28 trading biotech companies in this list, making it a compact local cohort rather than a regional life-sciences cluster on the scale of the main UK hubs. Reported headcount totals 37 staff, which is consistent with founder-led laboratories, analytical service units and pre-clinical development teams rather than large operating sites. The company base also appears weighted towards younger research businesses, with 8 firms incorporated since 2022 and no reported turnover above £5M.
Clinical-stage work sits under MHRA oversight, including clinical trial applications, marketing authorisations and post-authorisation safety monitoring through pharmacovigilance. Trials also have to work through Good Clinical Practice, ethics review and informed-consent requirements. For market access, regulatory approval can be only part of adoption: routine public-healthcare use may depend on cost-effectiveness review and payer evidence. For smaller Sheffield research businesses, that pushes commercial work towards staged collaborations, contract research and validation projects before a product can carry the evidence burden required for wider clinical use.
Sheffield's biotech pipeline appears weighted towards early-commercial and research-service businesses, so progress is likely to depend on access to translational partners, specialist facilities and patient capital rather than volume alone. The absence of larger reported-revenue firms suggests acquirers and licensing partners may matter more than local standalone scaling for some assets. Diagnostics and analytical-service models tend to reach customers earlier than therapeutics, while drug-development projects carry longer proof cycles. Regulatory scrutiny and payer evidence requirements should keep the sector selective rather than broad-based.
28
Active firms
2026
8
Incorporated since 2022
younger Sheffield entrants
0
Companies over £5M
no larger revenue entries
Key facts
28% of the cohort was incorporated since 2022 (8 firms), so a sizeable share is in its first few filing cycles.
The MHRA approves clinical trial applications, assesses marketing authorisations and oversees pharmacovigilance for medicines in the UK.
Clinical trials must follow Good Clinical Practice, ethics review and informed-consent requirements.
In 2023/2024, the UK life-sciences industry comprised 6,170 businesses across 7,320 companies, employed 359,600 people and generated £146.9 billion in turnover.
Biopharmaceuticals accounted for £98.9 billion of turnover in 2023/2024, or 67% of total life-sciences turnover.
BIA reported that the UK biotech sector raised £3.5 billion in equity investment in 2024, a 94% increase on the previous year and the highest annual figure since £4.5 billion in 2021.
Top Sheffield Biotech companies
SYNGENSYS LIMITED
Trajectory
4y · 2022–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsDevelops synthetic gene promoters and computational design tools to control gene expression for gene therapy, cell therapy and biologics manufacturing. Provides promoter libraries, tissue‑targeted…
Serves biotech and pharmaceutical organisations developing gene and cell therapies, biologics and biomanufacturing platforms, including teams working with tissue-targeted expression, CHO production…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · -59% CAGR over 3y
Location
Exciting Instruments Limited
Trajectory
2y · 2023–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 2 filingsDevelops and supplies single‑molecule fluorescence analysis instruments for life science research and drug discovery. Its EI‑FLEX platform measures biomolecular interactions and dynamics in solution…
Serves academic research groups, biopharma R&D teams, and clinical diagnostics organisations involved in life science research, molecular discovery and drug development.
Financial Health
StableStable · -33% CAGR over 1y
Location
AFORTIORI DEVELOPMENT LTD
Trajectory
5y · 2022–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsProvides contract research organisation services for healthcare companies, including clinical trial design, planning and management, post‑market clinical follow‑up studies, clinical development…
Serves healthcare product developers, including medical device, drug and diagnostics companies, that need support with clinical development, trials or post-market follow-up for regulatory approval…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
Phoenix Biosciences Ltd
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed · -16% CAGR over 4y
Location
A F CHEMPHARM LIMITED
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsProvides contract research and synthetic organic chemistry services, including custom synthesis, compound scale‑up, and consultancy for pharmaceutical, biotech, and chemical companies, supporting…
Serves B2B clients in pharmaceutical, biotech, drug discovery and chemical industries, including technology companies and organisations needing specialist chemistry support from small-scale research…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · -4% CAGR over 4y
Location
LIPOCUBE BIO TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Trajectory
2y · 2024–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 2 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed
Location
Mage Supplements Limited
Trajectory
1y · 2025–NowFinancial Health
Insufficient historyInsufficient history
Location
STEM CELLX LIMITED
Trajectory
4y · 2023–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsDevelops mesenchymal stem cell–based therapies for veterinary use, focused on treating osteoarthritis in animals. Produces allogeneic donor‑derived stem cell products, including injectable treatments…
Sells to veterinary practices and non-specialist veterinary centres treating companion animals, especially dogs with osteoarthritis, with a global veterinary market focus.
Financial Health
StableStable · -21% CAGR over 3y
Location
Global Kidney Consultancy Limited
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed
Location
TK RESEARCH LTD
Trajectory
1y · 2023–NowFinancial Health
Insufficient historyInsufficient history
Location
Crumcorp Ltd
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
Reepel Ltd
Trajectory
4y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed
Location
HALLAMSHIRE MEDICAL RESEARCH LIMITED
Trajectory
4y · 2023–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsFinancial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 3y
Location
Sansanima Limited
Trajectory
1y · 2025–NowFinancial Health
Insufficient historyInsufficient history
Location
Sanoderm Limited
Trajectory
4y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsFinancial Health
StrongStrong
Location
FORREST PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIMITED
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
Trajectory
5y · 2020–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsDevelops regenerative medicine and gene‑based therapeutics, including ischemic limb treatments and vaccines for infectious diseases. Sells clinical iPS cell production tools and provides clinical…
Serves pharmaceutical and biotech clinical trial sponsors, medical institutions and clinicians, plus healthcare providers and local residents using medical support services.
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
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How Sheffield Biotech companies work and how to sell to them
What they do
Sheffield biotech businesses usually earn through project-based scientific work rather than high-volume product sales. Revenue may come from contract research, assay development, analytical testing, feasibility studies, research tools, diagnostic development or licensing discussions around biology-led intellectual property. Pricing is typically scoped by work package, scientist time, milestone or access to a particular laboratory method, with smaller feasibility projects used to prove technical fit before a larger collaboration. Where firms are developing therapeutics or diagnostics, near-term income often comes from grants, partnered research or services while the asset moves through evidence generation.
Who they sell to
Most sell into specialist buyers rather than general business users. Typical customers include pharmaceutical research groups, university laboratories, healthcare-adjacent research teams, diagnostic developers and other laboratories needing external capability. The practical sponsor is often a research director, translational science lead, laboratory operations manager, head of external science or business development lead, with procurement joining once the scope, risk and contracting route are clearer. Shorter sales cycles tend to sit around defined analytical or validation projects; longer cycles attach to collaborations, regulated studies, clinical-adjacent work or RFP-led public and academic procurement.
What they buy
Most biotech firms tend to spend on tools that protect scarce scientific time, evidence quality and regulatory readiness. Relevant categories include laboratory information management, electronic lab notebooks, quality management, document control, sample tracking, bioinformatics, cloud compute, cyber security, CRM, grant administration and finance systems. They also buy specialist services: IP legal advice, regulatory consulting, clinical operations support, accounting, insurance, recruitment for scientists and technicians, marketing for partner development, lab fit-out, instrument maintenance, consumables supply and cold-chain logistics. Smaller firms usually prefer suppliers that can work around lean teams and uneven project income.
Why and how to sell to them
Biotech buyers tend to evaluate suppliers when a project moves from exploratory science into repeatable delivery: a new collaboration, grant award, assay validation, lab move, regulated study, senior hire or planned fundraise can all create buying intent. Common pain points include audit trails, sample traceability, slow reporting, fragmented research records, recruitment gaps and the need to show credible evidence to partners. Outbound is more likely to land when it names the scientific workflow, regulatory burden or commercial trigger, rather than making a broad productivity claim. Credibility usually matters more than volume-based discounting.
How this list is built
Data sources
This list is built from UK Companies House filings, XBRL accounts data, and semantic analysis of each company's public website. Revenue and headcount figures come from the most recent filed accounts; where the company has not filed, values are estimated using a model trained on filed history and peer benchmarks and are labelled as estimates.
Classification
Rather than relying solely on SIC codes, Firmbase classifies each company semantically: the company's website is crawled, an AI model reads what the company actually sells, and the company is placed into the relevant industry and subsectors. SIC codes are used as one signal but not the only one. This means a company that registered under a generic SIC code but pivoted into (for example) fintech is correctly identified as fintech, not as its original SIC category.
Freshness
The underlying company data is refreshed from Companies House continuously; filings appear in the list within days of submission. The curated list ordering is regenerated when the underlying data moves meaningfully (company count changes by more than 5%, a new company enters the top-ranked segment, or the filed-revenue numbers for the top firms change). You can see the last-updated timestamp near the top of the page.
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Frequently asked questions
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