Government plans £6 billion precision medicine strategy
pharmafile | December 18, 2014 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | ABPI, Cell Therapy Catapult, Ebola, George Osborne, UK, government
The government has committed to a £6 billion investment in scientific research and development as part of its science and innovation strategy for the UK.
It includes plans for a new research hub in precision medicine due to open in 2015. The new centre will extend the government’s Catapult network – the elite technology and innovation centres, the Catapults, that focus on sectors or challenges with large market potential and where the UK has a global research lead.
It comes as business secretary Vince Cable announced a new £55 million HQ for cell therapy manufacturing for the Cell Therapy Catapult in Stevenage.
The strategy will look at ways to fund collaborations across government, life sciences research and the pharma industry to develop new drugs in response to public health crises, and cited the example of the joint work led by GSK, the Department for International Development, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, to begin early trials of a vaccine for the Ebola virus.
Minister said the aim of the 10-year strategy was to boost the UK’s position as a global force in science and innovation. Currently the UK ranks 7th in the world in terms of its overall level of R&D spending, with 3% of the global total, 9th in the global competitiveness index, and 12th in the index’s innovation pillar.
Government took some steps to encourage research and development in George Osborne’s autumn treasury statement, by increasing tax breaks for R&D and introducing the patent box, which offers a 10% rate on profits derived from patents encouraging innovation to take place in the UK.
However, total UK investment in R&D has been stable and relatively low at around 1.8% of GDP a year since the early 1990s – compared to around 2.8% in the US.
Greg Clark, universities, science and cities minister says: “Science and innovation will play an important part in defining the UK’s place in the world in the 21st century. This strategy builds on the great strengths of British science and enterprise and will make sure the UK is the best place in the world to do science and grow an innovative business.”
Iain Gray, chief executive of Innovate UK, says the strategy recognises “the crucial role that our Catapult centres play in supporting innovative firms right across the UK.
“I think the strategy is also right to acknowledge that more needs to be done if the UK is to maintain its reputation as a nation which supports innovation. I hope that the strategy leads to a focus on sharpening the translational focus in academic discovery and bolstering its pull through to commercially viable new therapies. This would help to underpin industry investment in the UK.”
The move went down well with the industry, with ABPI chief executive Stephen Whitehead welcoming the strategy and the investment in a precision medicine centre.
Steve Bates, chief executive of the Bioindustry Association says the UK “has the potential to lead the world” in genomics and personalised medicine”, and adds “it’s great to see a long-term government plan”.
Lilian Anekwe
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