LIFE SCIENCES: POWERING THE UK’S ECONOMY

The government published its Life Sciences Industrial Strategy late last year.

The development of the strategy, led by Sir John Bell, included recommendations on how the government can maintain the UK’s existing strength in life sciences and increase the pace of economic growth in this area.

It called for increasing funding for basic science to match international competition, ensuring the fiscal environment supports growth and attracts investment, improving the collection of health data and boosting the recruitment and retention of skills workers in the sector.

Manufacturing is at the forefront of the UK’s wider industrial strategy, and one of its ambitions is to make the UK the best place in the world to make medicines, because medicine manufacturing is the most productive part of the most productive sector of our economy.

According to Dr Andy Jones, Director of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Medicines Manufacturing Challenge: “Better manufacturing technology brings improved control of quality. Lots of manufacturing has gone overseas and quality has often suffered as a result. But manufacturing is critical in the future development of medicines.”

The spending round, announced by Chancellor Sajid Javid in early September, signals the government’s continued support for the strategy.

In his speech to the House of Commons, the Chancellor said: “We want to push the frontiers of science and technology and turbocharge our ambition on research and development.”

He also promised £250 million for ground-breaking artificial intelligence technologies to help solve some of healthcare’s biggest challenges today.

In Sir John Bell’s foreword to his Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, he pointed out that to retain the UK’s competitive edge, there is a requirement for sustained effort over a longer period of time.

He said: “To deliver the potential for economic growth through the projects and programmes outlined in this strategy, there will be a need for oversight of this programme over the next five years.”

The UK biopharmaceutical industry has:

 More than 62,000 employees

 The highest productivity of any high technology sector (over £330,000 GVA per employee)

 Exports worth £30 billion

 More research and development spending in the UK than any other sector (£4 billion per annum)

Securing jobs and growth

The health life sciences industry revolves around the application of biology and technology to health improvement, including biopharmaceuticals, medical technology, genomics, diagnostics and digital health.

It has the advantage of very high productivity compared to other sectors, and generates a wide range of products including drugs, medical technology, diagnostics and digital tools, as well as products for consumer health. It is also widely distributed across the whole of the UK and brings significant jobs and growth to virtually every region.