Next Wednesday, Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s first Budget in 15 years. As anticipation mounts on what will be included – and not included – I’ve taken some time to consider what measures are needed to ensure that life sciences can help drive economic growth and support the government to deliver on its health mission.
Like Rachel Reeves, I’m relatively new to my current role in the UK, but also like the Chancellor, I’ve been working in my chosen field for many years and studying the trends closely. I understand the significant challenges the country faces in terms of the life sciences ecosystem. But I also remain extremely passionate that action can still be taken to unlock the full contribution our sector can make to the benefit of patients, the NHS, wider society and the economy.
UK life sciences is one of the most valuable sectors to the UK economy. We are an engine for growth, but we need the right operating environment to increase long-term investment. Increased investment means more jobs, more private investment in R&D and clinical trials, and more UK-based manufacturing.
Our medicines help people to live healthier lives for longer and can enable people with ill-health to get back into work. However, the UK life sciences environment is not working. We are currently experiencing low and slow access and uptake of new medicines in the UK. This is at a time when new research has found that over eight million working-age people have health conditions that limit the type or amount of work they can do. We must reverse these trends, but to do this, the government needs to ensure that early diagnosis and improved access to new and existing medicines for patients are prioritised.
I am therefore hoping that the Autumn Budget is forward-looking and champions the following three priorities for life sciences:
- Pro-innovation policies to bring medicines to patients earlier
- Investment in AI to support health outcomes
- Joined-up thinking across governmental departments.
‘If the UK set an ambition to become a world leader in patient access to innovative medicines, a powerful message would be sent to global boardrooms which would open the floodgates of investment, while ensuring better outcomes for patients’
Pro-innovation policies to bring medicines to UK patients earlier
Unfortunately, the UK is not internationally competitive enough to attract the volume of investment from life science companies that it could. At the heart of the problem is the issue of access to medicines. It’s worth noting that the UK’s investment in pharmaceuticals is less per capita than other high-income countries. At net prices, for every £100 in GDP, the UK spends an estimated 81p on pharmaceuticals. This compares to £2.35 and £1.94 spent by the US and Germany respectively. If the UK set an ambition to become a world leader in patient access to innovative medicines, a powerful message would be sent to global boardrooms which would open the floodgates of investment, while ensuring better outcomes for patients.
Harnessing, and then ensuring access to, innovation presents us with a huge opportunity to improve the nation’s health and wealth, and it is crucial that the government incentivises innovation across the health ecosystem.
Investment in AI to support health outcomes
In health, AI could be a game changer for unlocking access and uptake of innovation in the UK, ultimately reducing strain on an overburdened NHS system. If harnessed responsibly and at scale, AI has the potential to be a critical tool to solving the most pertinent and costly problems facing healthcare systems. Earlier in the year, I was pleased to learn how the NHS is rolling out a programme using AI to help tackle missed appointments and improve waiting times. It’s these kinds of programmes that we need to see more of – and I believe the Budget has the potential to encourage this.
AI also has the potential to facilitate earlier detection and diagnosis of diseases. With AI, we can be much more data-driven and efficient with risk assessment and spotting early on-set of diseases. This has huge individual and societal benefits, from better prognoses to reduced healthcare costs.
I hope to see the Chancellor recognising the full potential of AI in health and the exciting prospect of the UK leading globally in this field. Whether this is through partnerships between health organisations and life science companies or a commitment to use AI to update digital infrastructure – there are a number of ways that the Budget can send a green light that the UK will encourage the use of AI to support health outcomes.
Joined-up thinking across governmental departments
To genuinely shift the needle on access to medicines and unlocking investment into the UK, we need joined-up thinking across governmental departments. My hope is that this Autumn Budget serves as an indicator that the Treasury, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department for Business and Trade are working in close alignment to deliver the government’s growth and health missions. For example, while we need the right financial incentives to invest in the UK, we also need to know that our medicines will then get to patients and be adopted at pace by the NHS – these two things have to work together.
The government’s new industrial strategy green paper makes it clear that life sciences is a high priority sector, and I would like to see this message reiterated in the Chancellor’s Budget Statement. However, it’s important to recognise that the Budget is just one part of the story and we need to urgently look at how we can pull on the funding, regulatory and policy levers across the life sciences ecosystem to deliver real change.
Sanofi stands ready to work in partnership with this government to create a sustainable, internationally competitive UK health landscape that delivers for patients, positively impacts society and drives the health and wealth of the UK. We’ll be watching the Chancellor deliver her first Budget with great interest and optimism.