Key Summary
- The Life Sciences Sector Plan aims to strengthen the sector by turning cutting-edge research into real-world results
- The plan wants to enable world-class R&D in the country; make the UK an ideal place to invest; and drive health innovation and NHS Reform
- The Life Sciences Sector Plan will be supported over the lifetime of the Spending Review by government funding of over £2 billion
The Labour government on Wednesday (16) launched its Life Sciences Sector Plan, setting a ten-year mission to harness British science and innovation to deliver long-term economic growth and strengthen the NHS.
The UK's life sciences sector is worth around £100 billion, employing around 300,000 people, and is one of eight priority sectors in the government’s industrial strategy.
The life sciences sector supports opportunity in every part of the UK, with more than three-quarters of jobs outside London and the Southeast.
The new plan, developed in close coordination with the government’s 10-Year Health Plan, hopes to strengthen it further by turning cutting-edge research into real-world results.
It aims to make sure that breakthroughs happen in the UK and stay here, creating jobs, improving lives in every part of the country, and driving growth.
The plan's roadmap is built around three core pillars: enabling world-class R&D; making the UK an ideal place to start, scale and invest; and driving health innovation and NHS Reform.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, re-committed up to £520 million for the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund at the recent Spending Review to make the UK an attractive investment destination.
The Life Sciences Sector Plan will be supported over the lifetime of the Spending Review by government funding of over £2 billion.
The government has been slashing red tape to speed up clinical trials, and proposes to invest £600 million for a Health Data Research Service, which will bring the power of data to unlock breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
The plan will help doctors use cutting-edge tech with the NHS 'passport', enabling a faster rollout of proven tools.
Reeves said the life sciences plan "will cut red tape and deliver the investment we funded at the Spending Review so it can stay ahead of the curve globally and we can reap the economic rewards for years to come."
NHS England clinical transformation director Dr Vin Diwakar said the plan will provide patients access to latest health innovations.
"Through initiatives like the Health Data Research Service and ‘innovator passports,’ we’re unlocking data’s potential for cures and fast-tracking proven health technologies, ultimately transforming patient care and making the NHS fit for the future," he added.
MHRA CEO Lawrence Tallon has welcomed the Life Sciences Sector Plan and said, “It’s great to see the MHRA is recognised as a pivotal partner in delivering the plan’s vision."
He said his organisation will continue to enable "safe and effective innovation that benefits patients, the public, and the economy.”
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has observed that the government's new life sciences strategy will not be realised unless it makes a real commitment to invest more in new medicines.
Not enough: ABPI
ABPI chief executive Richard Torbett said, "The solutions proposed are necessary and important, but they are not enough to turn around the UK's decline."
He pointed out that high payment rates under the associated Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) and the Statutory Scheme, now at between a quarter to a third (23.5 percent-35.6 percent) of a company’s revenue from sales of branded medicines to the NHS, "are undermining government efforts to make life sciences a key pillar of its industrial strategy."
He said they are higher than most European countries and wanted the government to bring in internationally competitive rates.
