Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Business

U.K. Research Gets A Shot In The Arm

Funding: British government looks to support the life sciences industry

by Ann M. Thayer
December 12, 2011 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 89, Issue 50

[+]Enlarge
Credit: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom
Prime Minister Cameron outlined the U.K.’s life sciences strategy last week.
British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at a pharmaceutical and biotechnology conference in London on December 5, 2011 outlining the government's strategy for the life-science industry.
Credit: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom
Prime Minister Cameron outlined the U.K.’s life sciences strategy last week.

British Prime Minister David Cameron outlined his government’s strategy for the U.K.’s life sciences industry at a conference in London last week. The plan, spelled out in tworeports, includes a $282 million fund to support medical research as well as changes to the delivery of new therapies through the National Health Service.

Britain’s ambition is not just to retain a foothold but to take a bigger share of the global life sciences market, Cameron said. “I want the great discoveries of the next decade happening in British labs, the new technologies born in British start-ups,” he said. New funding will target the gap between idea generation in the lab and market investment in a new drug or technology.

With more than 4,500 companies, 165,000 employees, and $78 billion in annual revenues, the life sciences sector has been growing faster than the U.K. economy as a whole, according to the U.K. government. Still, officials acknowledge that rapid changes occurring in the industry need to be addressed.

“We need to create the right environment for scientists and business to work together and translate research into new, cutting-edge technologies and medicines,” Minister of State for Universities & Science David Willetts said. “This will boost our economy, create new jobs, and lead to better treatments for patients.”

Through its Medical Research Council, the U.K. government is also investing close to $16 million in a collaboration with AstraZeneca. Under the agreement, the U.K. drug firm will make 22 compounds available free of charge to academic researchers, who will study the compounds’ efficacy against various diseases. Separately, AstraZeneca has added $100 million to its venture capital arm, MedImmune Ventures, to invest in biopharmaceutical companies.

Leaders of U.K.-based health care, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industry associations welcomed the strategy and initiatives. GlaxoSmithKline called the plan “a very important next step on the journey to make the U.K. the best place in the world to locate pharmaceutical investment.”

Stating its commitment to work with the government to deliver on the promises, GSK said it is “positive about Britain’s future prospects as a place to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize our medicines.”

Advertisement

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.