Engineering biology is often described as the next industrial revolution. But revolutions are not defined by discovery alone, they’re defined by what can scale and grow.

The UK is not short of breakthroughs. Across healthcare, sustainable materials, food, and fuels, engineering biology is already reshaping how we design, make and deliver products. This has been thoroughly explored through an engineering biology focused series of CPI’s People in Innovation podcast, hosted by High Value Manufacturing Catapult Chair Steve Bagshaw CBE. The discussions here moved far beyond individual technologies to something much broader: a platform capability with the potential to transform entire industries.

Engineering biology is already reshaping manufacturing. The bigger issue now is whether the UK has the conditions in place to turn that momentum into industrial-scale growth and economic prosperity.

From breakthrough to bioeconomy

One of the clearest shifts in thinking is that engineering biology is an enabling capability that cuts across multiple industries rather than being confined to a single sector; it touches on everything from advanced therapies and diagnostics to bio-based materials, alternative proteins and low-carbon fuels.

This is the foundation of a new bioeconomy, where biological processes increasingly sit alongside, and in some cases replace, fossil-based manufacturing. The opportunity is significant, both economically and environmentally. But realising that opportunity depends on more than scientific progress. It depends on what happens next.

A familiar challenge: Strong science, limited scale

The UK has many of the ingredients needed to lead in engineering biology. It has a world-class research base, a growing start-up ecosystem, and a network of facilities that support early-stage development and pilot-scale activity.

Yet the pattern is familiar. As highlighted by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report ‘Don’t fail to scale: seizing the opportunity of engineering biology’, the UK still finds it difficult to convert research leadership into lasting industrial and commercial advantage. Too often, companies develop here but deploy commercially elsewhere.

Across both policy discussions and industry conversations, the same barriers keep emerging. There’s a funding gap between early research and commercial scale, limited availability of appropriate funding mechanisms to access the UK’s proven network of scale up facilities when it’s most needed, and a difficult transition from pilot-scale activity to full manufacturing. Alongside this, there’s a shortage of the skills required to operate at scale, particularly in bioprocessing and industrial biotechnology.

Taken together, these challenges create a system in which innovation can begin in the UK, but growth and long-term retention are harder to sustain.

What scaling actually involves

Part of the difficulty is that scale-up is often misunderstood. It’s regularly seen as an engineering exercise, but in reality, it’s just as much a commercial one. Success depends on whether a process can be delivered profitably, reliably and at a volume the market needs.

This requires a different way of thinking. Start-ups and SMEs must understand the size and accessibility of their market, how their product compares to existing alternatives, whether a reliable supply chain exists, and what level of production is needed to be commercially viable. These considerations sit alongside, rather than as an afterthought to, any technical challenges.

In engineering biology, these questions become even more complex. The relationship between product value and production volume varies dramatically, from high-value therapeutics produced in small quantities to low-margin commodities that require large-scale production. The challenge involves not only proving that a process works but that it works at scale in an economically and environmentally sustainable way.

Tools that test commercial viability and environmental impact early in development are becoming essential, helping organisations understand whether a promising process can also be practical and sustainable. They allow organisations to understand the trade-offs between cost, performance and environmental impact before committing to large-scale investment. At the same time, modelling tools can provide insight into how processes will behave at scale, reducing risk before moving into larger facilities.

Even so, there comes a point at which processes must move beyond the lab and pilot environments. It’s here, in the transition to commercial manufacturing, that the risks become most acute.

Bridging the gap: Infrastructure and ecosystem

The UK has invested significantly in open-access facilities and translational infrastructure designed to support this transition to commercial manufacturing. Organisations such as CPI and the wider High Value Manufacturing Catapult play an important role in helping companies de-risk scale-up, access expertise, and generate the data needed to attract further investment.

However, the existence of infrastructure alone doesn’t automatically translate into easy access. Some of the existing funding mechanisms in the UK can make it difficult for SMEs to use these facilities at the scale and speed they need, leaving capability in place that’s not always easily accessible.

If you speak with any of the operators of existing scale-up facilities in the UK, there will be a common message that they are under-utilised and have plenty of capacity to support more businesses to grow. The UK therefore does not face a capacity challenge, the challenge is accessibility, so instead of jumping straight into building more facilities, the focus must first be to enable companies to leverage the existing infrastructure through updated funding models that support progression from early development to commercialisation, ultimately helping retain high growth potential companies in the UK.

Critically, we must then also make it appealing for those companies to stay and manufacture in the UK once they have scaled up, through addressing key barriers such as the cost of doing business and complex regulatory challenges, to create an environment that truly welcomes and supports innovative businesses and processes to manufacture their products here.

From capability to system: The role of clusters

If scale-up is a system challenge, then the solution must also be systemic. This is where ecosystems and clusters become increasingly important.

A recent example is the emerging Bio Industrial Cluster North, a partnership between York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority, CPI, the University of York and Teesside University. The ambition is to create around 5,000 skilled jobs, grow the regional bioeconomy by £5 billion, and support the development of 100 bio-based start-ups.

More importantly, it brings together the elements required to move from innovation to industry. Scientific expertise, industrial capability, scale-up infrastructure, skills development and access to investment are aligned within a single ecosystem.

This kind of collaboration is essential in engineering biology, where value chains are complex and interconnected. From feedstocks and fermentation through to downstream processing and end-use applications, success depends on coordination across the entire system.

Clusters like this help anchor industries, creating the conditions for businesses to start, scale, and remain.

Building the conditions for scale

The UK has a clear opportunity to lead in engineering biology, but doing so will require deliberate action. CPI is helping to build the conditions needed to scale engineering biology by investing in world-class infrastructure, open-access facilities and specialist expertise. But alongside this, funding models need to better reflect the realities of scale-up, ensuring that companies can access infrastructure without unnecessary barriers. Stronger pathways are needed between pilot and commercial manufacturing, alongside investment that bridges the gap between innovation and industrialisation.

At the same time, the workforce must evolve to meet the needs of a scaling industry. This means developing interdisciplinary skills that combine biology, engineering and data, as well as expanding training routes that prepare people for roles in manufacturing.

A clear and proportionate regulatory environment will also be critical, providing certainty for innovators while maintaining public trust. None of these challenges are new, but engineering biology brings them into sharper focus because of the pace of change and the scale of the opportunity.

The UK has been here before, with world-leading science, global potential, and economic value that’s being realised elsewhere. Engineering biology offers the chance to do things differently. The capability, skills and infrastructure exist. The ecosystems are beginning to form. What matters now is whether these elements come together to help companies start, scale, and stay in the UK.