'Life Sciences vision will change patients' lives for the better'

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has welcomed the recently launched 'UK Life Sciences Vision' which will allow the government, industry, the NHS, academia, and medical research charities to work together.

The £200 million life sciences investment programme will support innovation in the Life Sciences sector which will be guided by a 10-year strategy which includes seven healthcare missions focused on the early prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease.

The vision outlines seven critical healthcare missions – from cancer treatment to tackling dementia – and aims to create a thriving sector to tackle the major causes of death and disease.

Sunayana Shah, chair of the Industrial Pharmacy Advisory Group, said, “We are entering an exciting phase in innovation.

“In collaboration with industry, other key stakeholders, pharmacists and their teams, and pharmaceutical scientists, stand ready to play their part in delivering the bold new life sciences vision through early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.

“This will continue to change patients' lives for the better.”

Professor Gino Martini, chief scientist for the RPS, added, “These seven  missions will focus on preventing, diagnosing, monitoring, treating disease early, and accelerating the development and adoption of new drugs, diagnostics, medical technology and digital tools.”

The seven critical healthcare missions are: 

1. accelerating the pace of studies into novel dementia treatment;

2. enabling early diagnosis and treatments, including immune therapies such as cancer vaccines;

3. sustaining the UK’s position in vaccine discovery, development and manufacturing;

4. treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and its major risk factors, including obesity;

5. reducing mortality and morbidity from respiratory disease in the UK and globally;

6. addressing the underlying biology of ageing; and

7. increasing the understanding of mental health conditions, including work to redefine diseases and develop tools to address them.