Theresa May promises £2 billion a year in funding for R&D
pharmafile | November 21, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications | Conservative, Theresa May, brexit
The Conservative Party leader has announced a planned raise in funding for research and development for UK business to £2 billion by 2020. The gesture is an important one for research and development within the sciences, as Brexit has caused uncertainty about the prospect of the UK as a home for industry.
The announcement came at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) national conference. CBI had previously voiced concerns about May’s previous talk of a ‘hard Brexit’. This recent announcement at the conference will have appeased some of the doubts by outlining the Conservative’s desire to keep industry on board, especially by increasing investment.
Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director-general, said: “The substantial funding increase for R&D will make sure the UK remains a world leader in innovation and sends out an important signal to global investors. A first priority for this new investment should be Innovate UK, which has an excellent track record in stimulating business innovation but is currently underfunded relative to its international peers.”
The funding will be diverted into the fields that the UK is perceived to excel at, such as in robotics, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. It comes as a serious boon to the biotech field, which has suffered from the doubts surrounding its future potential to attract funding and recruitment with talk of a hard Brexit.
ABPI, chief executive, Mike Thompson, commented on the news: “The Prime Minister has spoken about the strategic importance of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and today we’ve seen a commitment to creating an industrial strategy which supports science and innovation. As we look ahead to the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, reports today of an extra £2billion of funding a year for the sector will help to ensure this becomes a reality. This is hugely welcome and will be well received by everybody involved in UK life sciences.”
Ben Hargreaves
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