UK announces increased funding for life sciences

Featured Sponsor

Store	Link	Sample Product
UK Artful Impressions	Premiere Etsy Store

The UK government is trying to appease dissatisfaction in the life sciences industry by investing in health data mining and ramping up domestic production of vaccines and medicines.

Ministers are expected on Friday to unveil more than £150m of funding for the UK Biobank, a pioneering genomics project, to quadruple its research capacity to advance scientists’ and drugmakers’ understanding of human biology.

The biobank will build a new facility in Manchester to store its 16 million samples and upgrade its IT infrastructure, according to officials.

Pharmaceutical executives have strongly criticized the government for sharply increasing a tax on the sale of medicines to the NHS, arguing it is undermining their vision to make the UK a world leader in life sciences.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said in February that drugmakers shouldn’t be forced to pay for the “explosion” of the costs of the NHSwhile US pharmaceutical groups Eli Lilly and AbbVie have abandoned their price deal with the NHS.

The announcement is part of a package of measures the government is due to unveil on Friday to boost life sciences in Britain.

Industry leaders will meet with the chancellor, science and technology secretary and health secretary on Thursday to discuss plans for the sector.

Pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson are already working with the UK biobank to access genomic data. The government believes the new funding could unlock a further £70m investment from the private sector.

Whitehall officials have said the UK is a ‘life sciences giant in every respect’, and the science and technology secretary believes the government should ‘double down’ on that strength.

“Supporting the sector through financial investment, expanding the pipeline of world-class talent and ensuring regulation is fit for purpose is a no-brainer that will bring significant benefits to the UK, both for economic growth and public health” they stated.

Industry has also expressed concern about a decline in clinical trials being conducted in the NHS over the past five years, arguing the UK is not making the most of the single healthcare system that is supposed to facilitate research.

Last month, GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to increase industry access to anonymised NHS patient data.

The government is to unveil new measures designed to make it easier for drug makers to conduct trials in the NHS this week, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The UK is also expected on Friday to announce a £38m capital fund to boost investment in bioproduction to improve the country’s ability to respond to future health emergencies.

It is also ramping up funding for a program to invest in the latest vaccine and drug technologies and to scale up the skills needed for advanced manufacturing.

The announcement comes after the UK sold its main vaccine manufacturing center near Oxford to contract manufacturer Catalent last year.