Yesterday, the UK government released it’s Life Sciences Sector Plan (LSSP). The British government summarized the provisions as follows:
1. Unlocking NHS data to find new cures. Up to £600 million investment to build the world’s most advanced health data system – helping scientists develop better treatments faster.
2. Speeding up clinical trials. Cutting red tape so patients can join trials sooner – and get access to life-changing medicines quicker.
3. Backing British manufacturing. Up to £520 million to invest in life sciences manufacturing projects – creating high-skilled jobs and making more treatments and medical devices here at home.
4. Getting new treatments to patients faster. Making regulation simpler and faster by boosting departmental support for the MHRA with additional investment – so doctors can use safe, effective innovations without delay.
5. Helping doctors use cutting-edge tech. A new NHS ‘passport’ to roll out proven tools faster – like AI cancer scanners or wearable devices that detect disease early.
6. Backing brilliant UK firms to grow. Helping fast-growing companies raise investment, scale up, and stay in the UK – with at least one major industry partnership secured every year.
What was the reaction from the life sciences sector itself? The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) was underwhelmed.
The government’s new plan includes many important and necessary commitments to support the use of data for research, encourage investment in manufacturing, and accelerate the pace and ease of research. While these are positive, they are not enough to reverse the decline of the UK’s standing as a centre for life sciences.
Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said: “This plan recognises both the extraordinary contributions of the life sciences sector to the UK, and the fact that in recent years, it has been struggling to remain competitive and attractive to investment. The solutions proposed are necessary and important, but they are not enough to turn around the UK’s decline.
“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.
“For too long, the UK has sought to be the place where innovation happens, but not the place where it is used. Without change, the UK will continue the slow slide down international league tables for research, investment, and the availability of new medicines.
NHS Confederation, an organization supporting the healthcare systems in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, argues that innovation alone isn’t enough but access and value also matter.
While the LSSP sets out how the government will make efforts to grow the volume and quality of industrial science in the UK, its tangible impact will be limited if patients cannot get rapid access to the most clinically and cost-effective new technologies developed as part of these efforts and if healthcare leaders are not supported to deliver on the plan.
What are your thoughts on LSSP?
