The UK government has announced a £650m funding package to support the continued growth of the life sciences sector.
Unveiled by chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the ‘life sci for growth’ package includes £121m to speed up clinical trials and improve access to real-time data, as well as £48m to support scientific innovation in preparing for potential health emergencies.
Another £154m has been committed to increase the capacity of the UK Biobank – the biomedical database containing the in-depth genetic information of half a million UK citizens. This funding will go towards a new facility at Manchester Science Park, a new hub to help small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) collaborate with industry and academia, and better IT to accommodate multi-disciplinary data.
A new call for proposals has also been released as part of the initiative that will offer £250m to incentivise pension schemes to invest in the UK’s science and technology businesses.
Hunt said: “These are businesses that are growing our economy while having much wider benefits for our health – and this multi-million-pound investment will help them go even further.”
The package also include plans to relaunch the Academic Health Science Network as Health Innovation Networks in a bid to boost innovation and unify the NHS, local communities, charities, academia and industry to share best practice.
Changes to planning rules to free-up lab space are also included, as well as updates to a route for East West Rail – the new railway line – to improve connections between Oxford and Cambridge and bring more investment to the region.
Life sciences is one of the UK’s most successful sectors, according to the government, worth over £94bn to the UK economy in 2021 – a 9% increase on the year before.
Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: “[The] announcements show that the government recognises the huge opportunity waiting to be grasped if the UK can unlock the economic potential of its life science industry – already worth £94.2bn in 2021.
“These measures demonstrate the government has listened to industry and will help put the UK on track to meeting its life science vision.”