Tomorrow’s Forecast… Cloudy with Sunny Intervals

Looking across the English Channel at the darkening horizon one might be forgiven for feeling a little grim. The UK appears to have avoided the eye of the storm that has swept through Europe, but the sky above Westminster looks set to remain a dismal shade of grey. To top things off, the dreaded ‘R’ word has, once more, crept back into the political debate.

Yet not all, it seems, is doom and gloom.

This month saw the launch of the coalition government’s UK Strategy for Life Sciences, a multi-million pound support package designed to give a much needed boost to the life sciences sector and the wider UK economy.

Key measures include, a new £180 million Biomedical Catalyst Fund to help biomedical start up companies, a new ‘early access scheme’ to get new drugs into hospitals faster, and, the roll out of 3 million new home-based medical monitoring devices to monitor vital statistics of at-risk patients.

The Catalyst Fund, is a particularly welcome development. Designed to help start up companies tackle the so-called ‘Valley of Death’ funding gap – the period between a drug’s discovery and investment by the market – it should go some way in helping prevent new drugs from falling at the first hurdle. Having said that, the total fund equals less than a quarter of the cost of developing one new drug. Many will be questioning whether the fund is large enough to deliver the goods.

The NHS Chief Executive’s Innovation Review, launched alongside the strategy, highlighted a number of other measures the government will be taking to address ‘collaboration’ within the health system.

Such measures include, a NICE ‘compliance scheme’ designed to reduce variation and drive up compliance with NICE technology appraisals, the creation of regional Academic Health Science Networks, and greater sharing of patient data.

So amidst all the talk of Euro Bonds and triple A ratings, might there be a ray of hope for Britain’s economy? Might we even be able to see a hint of blue sky some time in the near future? Only time will tell - but whatever the weather - the life sciences industry cannot be ignored.

Currently the third biggest contributor to the UK economy, the life sciences industry is one of Britain’s biggest assets. The government’s strategy offers a detailed plan of action to protect and foster growth within the sector. But external limitations still apply. The global pipeline for new drugs is drying up fast, whilst health systems across the world face ever-increasing levels of demand. The UK government is sending out the right message, but will others follow?

Follow the links below to access the Life Sciences Strategy Document and the Innovation Review:

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/s/11-1429-strategy-for-uk-life-sciences.pdf

http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_131784.pdf