The UK could unlock over £10bn in economic growth for its life science sector every year - and improve patient outcomes at the same time - if drug discovery companies were given better access to some healthcare data assets.
Tapping into existing NHS data could improve treatments and accelerate economic growth, according to a new report commissioned by SCI. Together with other policy changes outlined in the report, this could generate additional gross value added (GVA) of up to £21bn a year for the UK economy.
SCI Chief Executive Sharon Todd has called on the government to develop a plan to provide better access to the UK Biobank and NHS datasets for companies investing in developing new medicines for the UK.
“Whilst the suggestion has evoked some controversy, opening up UK Biobank and broader NHS datasets for commercial use could be transformational for the UK economy,” she said. “Clearly appropriate structures and controls would need to be in place and the UK patient population would need to see some clear value delivered to them in terms of quicker access to critical medicines”.
UK Biobank represents the world’s largest set of sequencing data coupled with longitudinal healthcare data. Improving pharmaceutical companies’ ability to harness this data could boost the speed of novel medicines to market, the report says. This access would in turn encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in the UK, driving economic growth and considerably strengthening the UK’s position in life sciences and health innovation.
Meanwhile, the NHS has access to one of the most comprehensive healthcare datasets globally, with over 60 million registered patients. Consolidating this data into a single, accessible infrastructure for commercial research, and balancing this with the appropriate security, privacy and ethical checks on access could add more than £10bn GVA a year to the UK economy and deliver novel medicines more quickly to patients, the report said.
The Amplifying Growth in the UK Life Sciences Sector report is the second in a series of research by SCI and LEK Consuling into the UK’s life science sector. The first part of the research found that the UK has failed to keep up with international competitors in an increasingly competitive global environment. As a result, the UK is losing out on an estimated £15 billion a year as life science businesses look elsewhere to invest and scale up.
Beyond this, the lack of a long-term industrial strategy over recent decades has harmed the sector’s ability to translate its research potential into economic benefit. Todd added: “It is frustrating that a lack of a consistent or strategic approach to industrial strategy in this country over the last decade has left this potential untapped. I would urge the government to act fast to enable business access to these valuable research assets, which would drive the growth and innovation our country urgently needs.”
The report details that the UK has multiple sovereign assets, such as the UK Biobank and NHS data, which hold significant value for research and development activities but so far have not realised their full potential in attracting investment. “The UK Biobank is an invaluable dataset today for non-commercial research; however, there exists an opportunity for it to be more directly commercialised by pharmaceutical companies to drive additional economic benefit,” the report said.
In addition, it said, the NHS also holds untapped potential in its vast dataset with its patient records covering the entire UK population. “Investing time and resources to curate the NHS dataset may result in operational savings for the NHS, improved patient outcomes, and downstream economic benefits to the UK,” it said. “With over 60 million registered patients, the NHS has access to one of the most comprehensive healthcare datasets globally and may serve as an invaluable dataset for life sciences companies,” the report said.
Currently, however, those datasets are fragmented, which limits cross-linking, and accessibility for research use. Datasets are stored across a variety of settings including GP practices, NHS Trusts and local authorities, and records can also vary in their structure, completeness, and accuracy. Developing the appropriate data infrastructure and governance needed to fix this would require significant investment, the report said.
Greg Clark, former UK Business Secretary and Chair of the Board of Trustees at SCI said: “At SCI, we know first-hand the extent of our country’s considerable potential in life sciences. With world-leading academic institutions and a swathe of start-up potential, the UK has all the ingredients it needs to be a global leader in the sector. However, we cannot hope to compete on the international stage without first having the right policies in place."
Click here to download the full LEK report Amplifying Growth in the UK Life Sciences Sector (PDF).
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