Introducing the Sunday Times Tech 100: Life sciences part 3
In the third of three articles on The Sunday Times top 100 tech companies list, pharmaphorum shines a spotlight on the last group of life sciences-focused start-ups featuring in the hardware category.
The list recognises the UK's fastest-growing private tech companies, and this year, almost a quarter (23) of them operate in the life sciences arena. It highlights companies demonstrating strong revenue growth over the last three years to 2024, innovation and long-term commercial sustainability, and shines a light on businesses that the newspaper believes are shaping the future of the UK technology sector. To qualify, companies must be independent, privately owned, and headquartered in the UK.
Collectively, the 100 companies on the list generated revenues of £3.7 billion ($5.06 billion), rising by around £3 billion in the three years, and now employ 23,100 people, having created 11,600 new positions over that time.
10) Inventus
Placed at number 29, in the hardware category, Inventus is dedicated to creating, delivering, and managing purpose-built devices and technology solutions exclusively for clinical trials. The London company's technology – such as purpose-built patient and site devices, protocol-ready configuration, secure connectivity, and centralised mobile device management (MDM) designed exclusively for clinical trials – is used to overcome issues holding back clinical trial programmes like operational complexity, slow study start-up, and site capacity constraints, which have held back the clinical research sector in the UK and other countries. It achieved 2024 revenues of £14.7 million, representing 63% growth.
11) Genomics
Oxford-based genetic sequencing specialist Genomics has been included in the list for the second year running, coming in at position 30 in 2026 after a placing of 41 in 2025. The company, formed in 2014 by statistical and human geneticists at the University of Oxford, launched an AI-enabled human genetics platform last year, called Mystra, which it says can "supercharge" drug target discovery and validation, equipping researchers with a toolkit that builds on the fact that targets with human genetic support are 2.6 times more likely to succeed in clinical trials. 2024 revenues came in at £11.1 million, up 59%.
12) LIO
At 34, digital mental health player LIO of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has built an all-in-one platform for in-patient mental health, based around safe and secure monitoring units and camera-based surveillance – which the company says can generate medical-grade data without any need for wired or wearable devices – as well as AI-powered analysis. The tech – which is used in around half of all NHS mental health trusts in England – generated £7.6 million in revenues in 2024, an increase of 49%.
13) Oxford BioTherapeutics
Cancer immunotherapy developer Oxford BioTherapeutics arrives at 35 – having been placed at 32 last year – thanks to revenues up 46% to £20.7 million. Its growth has been fuelled by partnerships for its OGAP-Verify discovery platform, a database of thousands of membrane proteins expressed by cancer cells, as well as healthy cells, that is claimed to be far more accurate at identifying new drug targets than conventional immunohistochemical (IHC) approaches. Customers include Roche – which signed a deal worth up to $1 billion last year to seek out antibody therapies for cancer – along with Boehringer Ingelheim, AbbVie/Immunogen, Genmab, Agenus, and ZymeWorks.
14) Perspectum
Another Oxford-headquartered company, medical imaging and diagnostics player Perspectum, appears at 36 on the list. It develops AI-enabled software for use with MRI scanning, to assist with the detection and diagnosis of diseases, support clinical trials and new therapy development, and guide personalised care. Its main areas of focus are metabolic, liver, and multi-organ health. Revenues in 2024 came in at £26.5 million, representing growth of 46%.
15) C4X Discovery
At 38 in the list is C4X Discovery, a company set up in 2008 to develop research at the University of Manchester, using technology to visualise the three-dimensional shapes of drug molecules. Revenues rose 46% to £17.5 million. Last September, the company selected a lead in-house programme from its small molecule drug discovery programmes in immuno-inflammation, an oral α4β7 integrin inhibitor programme for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is in lead optimisation. It also has alliances in place with AstraZeneca and Sanofi on inflammatory candidates, and with Indivior in neuroscience.
16) Refeyn
Refeyn, an Oxford company pioneering mass photometry technology, earns position 39 in the list thanks to a 40% rise in revenues to £29 million. The Oxford University spinout, founded in 2018, is developing bioanalytical devices based on the label-free technology, which measures the mass of individual biomolecules or particles in solution by measuring light scattering patterns. The company works with customers in academia and industry – including in the development and manufacturing of mRNA, cell and gene, and antibody therapeutics. Mass photometry has been widely adopted and has played a role in more than 1,400 scientific publications.
17) Biocomposites
Biocomposites, a Keele, Staffordshire-based medical device manufacturer specialising in bone and soft tissue infection management, manufacturing surgical products that can regenerate bone and help to manage musculoskeletal infection risks. Biocomposites products are now used in over 1 million procedures per annum and sold in more than 100 countries around the world. It stands at 46 in the list, after reporting a 29% increase in 2024 revenues to £141.1 million.
18) Vision RT
Coming in at position 49 with a 26% increase in revenues to £108.3 million, London-based Vision RT has made a name for itself with its surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) technology, which uses 3D surface imaging to track patients and improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of the radiotherapy workflow. More than 3,000 of its SGRT systems are in active clinical use around the world, including 24 of the top 25 US cancer hospitals.
You can read part 1 of our coverage of The Sunday Times Tech 100, covering the software category, here, and part 2 on the first half of the hardware category here.
