The UK government has released its Life Sciences Sector Plan which sets out six actions, backed by £2 billion in funding, to support investment and growth in the sector.
The ten-year plan, which is one element of the recently published Industrial Strategy, is described as a ‘comprehensive roadmap’ which is based on three pillars, these being: enabling world-class R&D; making the UK an outstanding place to start, scale and invest; and driving health innovation and NHS reform.
The pillars support six key actions which the government said were developed with input from more than 250 organisations including scientists, health service leaders and industry, and will ‘harness British science and innovation to deliver long-term economic growth and a stronger, prevention-focused health service.”
With Life Sciences an important driver of economic growth and improving health, the six actions are: up to £520 million investment in life sciences manufacturing projects; helping fast growing companies to raise investment, scaleup and stay in the UK – with at least one major industry partnership secured each year; making NHS data available to support the development of new cures; cutting red tape so patients can take part in clinical trials more quickly; making regulation simpler so that innovative treatments reach patients faster; and a new NHS ‘passport’ so that tools such as AI cancer scanners or wearable devices can be rolled out sooner.
The government said: “Every action has clear goals and named leads. This is a plan designed to deliver, not in isolation but as a vital part of the Government’s broader plan for change.”
Life Sciences is one of the eight priority sectors set out in the government's Industrial Strategy which was made public during June. The sector employs more than 300 000 people and attracts high levels of private investment. The government has said that during 2023 the UK raised the third highest amount of life sciences equity finance in the world, only behind the US and China. In addition the sector has a strong focus on innovation, with 17% of all UK business R&D spend in pharmaceuticals, the highest of any sector.
The plan has been widely welcomed. GSK’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Tony Wood said: “We welcome the government’s Life Science Sector Plan – in particular the reforms to incentivise more UK clinical trials, establish a new Health Data Research Service and create a network of translational labs and clinics to accelerate drug discovery and development. These changes can bring unique competitive advantage to the country and make the UK a leader in future life science research.”
However, there are concerns that the plan does not address some fundamental issues. Sharon Todd, SCI CEO said: “We are pleased that government has listened to our calls for making better use of health data, and for streamlining clinical trials and regulation in the UK. But we are concerned that by failing to address the way in which the NHS pays for medicines, the government is putting its whole strategy at risk. Unless there is an agreement on drug pricing, SCI fears that the UK’s life science sector, already struggling to remain globally competitive, will have few reasons to invest in and innovate [in the UK].”
Earlier this year SCI released exclusive research - carried out by LEK Consulting for SCI which found that the UK’s life sciences sector faces challenges in an increasingly competitive global environment. It calculates that the sector’s declining position in global rankings comes at a cost of at least £15 billion per year to the UK economy.
Also sounding a warning, Richard Torbett, Chief Executive at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said: “The solutions proposed [in this plan] are necessary and important, but they are not enough to turn around the UK’s decline.” Torbett added: “The UK must address the core issue holding back the life sciences sector, the long-term disinvestment in innovative medicines that is increasingly preventing NHS patients from accessing medications that are available in other countries.”
The UK’s Life Science Plan follows the publication of the European Commission’s Choose Europe for Life Sciences: A strategy to position the EU as the world’s most attractive place for the life sciences by 2030. The 28-page document, released on 2 July, sets out a series of actions that are focused on developing and implementing “a dynamic and competitive life sciences ecosystem.” The plan is backed by €10 billion from EU funding programmes including Horizon Europe and EU4Health.
The strategy proposes action in three interconnected phases. These phases are: optimising the research and innovation ecosystem to achieve a globally competitive life science sector; ensuring smooth and rapid market access for life science innovations thorough more innovation friendly regulation; and boosting the uptake and use of life science innovation through improved public engagement to counter disinformation and build trust.
Existing initiatives including the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the Union of Skills, and the upcoming EU Biotech Act medical will contribute to the aims of the European Life Sciences Strategy.
Further reading:
• SCI research: UK life sciences missing out on billions through competitiveness gap
• Pharma R&D: Who is really setting the pace?
• R&D: Here's how pharma and chemicals industries are performing
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