

What Solugen is doing is trying to make chemicals out of sugar not petroleum.’ ‘It’s responsible for about 30 per cent of all global emissions. ‘If you look at the chemicals industry, it’s one of the dirtiest in the world’, says Claire. This sustainable chemistry seeks to use bio-based inputs rather than fossil fuels.

She highlights Solugen, a synthetic biology company that aims to decarbonise the chemicals industry by making chemicals in a carbon neutral or even carbon negative way. Investor focus in this field often turns towards transportation and energy, and Scottish Mortgage’s long-term holding in Tesla – which makes up 6.8 per cent of the trust – has proved a highly successful investment in both of those aspects, but Claire says there are other areas where exciting developments are taking place. Another key area where it sees exciting opportunities over the next decade is the transition to a low carbon economy While Claire emphasises that Scottish Mortgage makes no claims to be an ESG or impact fund, she says one of the key questions the investment team ask about companies when they are researching and considering buying them – or holding them – is do they contribute to society?Īmong the trust’s 102 holdings are many companies that it argues are making a better future for people. These two coming together is really exciting: for patients to benefit from the treatment of others who came before them, to help physicians gather more data and to help with better diagnosis.’ ‘Tempus sits at this intersection of two really interesting areas: genomic profiling, where we are seeing a lot of growth and development, and AI. She says: ‘They have a massive library of cancer records and can apply machine learning to help physicians better diagnose patients, based on what they’ve previously seen from other patients. The growing use of technology in the healthcare sector is expected to drive significant change in preventing, diagnosing and treating illnesses over the next decades and is of particular interest to investors due to major nations’ ageing populations.Īmong the fields in which great steps forward have been taken over the past decade – and many more are expected over the next one – is cancer.Īnother of Scottish Mortgage’s holdings that Claire highlights is Tempus Labs, which is using artificial intelligence to help doctors better diagnose cancer. Moderna combines cutting edge technology with its drug making and was behind the mRNA -based Covid-19 vaccine
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People think of Moderna in a biotech sense but it’s better to put our software hat on and think about it as a software company. ‘I use this phrase quite often, “it’s like designing drugs on a computer”. ‘They’ve got an incredibly diverse pipeline, looking for cures for all sorts of big killers. The Moderna holding accounts for 8.8 per cent of Scottish Mortgage, while fellow US healthcare technology pioneer Illumina is the trust’s fourth biggest holding and accounts for 4.8 per cent.Ĭlaire says: ‘Moderna is much more than a Covid-19 play, they’re pioneering a new class of medicines based on mRNA and we think Moderna has sought to lay the foundations to scale drug development in a way that we haven’t seen before. She says: ‘Where our real excitement lies is the intersection between healthcare and technology and the potential of innovative treatments being developed faster than ever.’Īn example of one such company lies in Scottish Mortgage’s biggest holding, Moderna, the US biotech firm that shot to fame with its breakthrough mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

Its investment managers see some of those opportunities in healthcare at the moment, which Claire says is one of the areas where Scottish Mortgage expects ‘some of the most exciting developments over the next decade’.

Scottish Mortgage invests for long-term growth around the world and targets disruptive companies that it sees as shaping the future. ‘We spend a lot more time trying to understand what the world will look like if these companies get it right.’ Claire says: ‘That’s quite a different way of looking at the world, instead of a box ticking approach.
