Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take in
response to the report by the Medicines Manufacturing Industry
Partnership Fulfilling the potential identified in the
Government’s Life Sciences Vision, published on 23 January, which
found that medicines manufacturing and employment has declined in
the United Kingdom over the last 25 years.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Culture, Media and Sport ( of Whitley Bay) (Con)
My Lords, the Government recognise the valuable role that
medicines manufacturing plays in the UK economy. This enables us
to capitalise on our world-class research and development,
creates jobs, and contributes significantly to growth. Life
sciences pharmaceutical manufacturing was responsible for more
than £20 billion of exports in 2021. Our Life Sciences Vision set
out the Government’s ambition to create a globally competitive
environment for manufacturing investment. Last March, we launched
the £60 million life sciences innovative manufacturing fund to
encourage manufacturing investment in the UK and will announce
the fund’s winners later this year.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister is absolutely right to stress the
importance of this sector to our economy and the value of our
exports, but since 2010, the volume produced has reduced by 29%
and in the league table of countries with trade balances relating
to pharmaceuticals, we have gone from fourth place to 98th place.
Now the sector, like others, is having to face up to increasing
corporation tax and, remarkably and peremptorily, the Treasury
decided to reduce SME R&D tax credits for life science
companies. This will, in effect, reduce by half the value for
loss-making SMEs. Given that SMEs are at the heart of the life
science industry, will the Government reconsider that
decision?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the UK is a prime location to research, develop and
manufacture pharmaceutical products, particularly complex
medicines. The Life Sciences Visionacknowledges that there has
been a long-term decline in medicines manufacturing in the UK
over the past quarter of a century, as the noble Lord highlighted
in his Question, but official statistics from the Office for Life
Sciences show that employment in core biopharmaceutical
manufacturing has increased by 5% in the two years from 2019. The
UK holds the number one spot for life science investment in
Europe, and globally is second only to the US, so there are
reasons for optimism as well.
(LD)
My Lords, is not the situation outlined by the Minister rather
belied by a recent article in the Financial Times by Dame Kate
Bingham, who did so much to deliver the Covid vaccine? She
said:
“Big companies are also retrenching. The pharmaceutical giants
AbbVie and Eli Lilly have pulled out of the UK’s pricing
agreement with the NHS. Bayer’s pharmaceutical arm is reducing
its UK footprint and cutting jobs. Our own domestic titans, GSK
and AZ, have chosen to build new factories in countries more
friendly to business”,
such as Ireland. Is this not all down to government policy? How
are the Government going to get back on the front foot?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I echo the tributes that have been paid in this place today and
elsewhere to Kate Bingham for the work she did during the
pandemic. The Government have invested more than £405 million to
date to secure and scale up the UK’s vaccine manufacturing
capabilities to ensure a robust response to Covid and potential
future health emergencies. We recently announced a 10-year
partnership with Moderna, which will invest in mRNA research and
development in the UK, and other examples include Fujifilm, which
announced in 2021 a £400 million investment in its site in
Billingham, on Teesside, which will more than double the site’s
existing development and manufacturing, anticipating the creation
of up to 350 skilled jobs.
(Con)
My Lords, one of my frustrations when I was briefly one of the
Ministers for life science was that we would have meetings on
life sciences between two or three departments, when in fact many
parts of government were working on life sciences. I and other
Ministers asked for anyone working on life sciences, whether that
be in No. 10, the Treasury, DIT, DHSC, et cetera, to all get
together in one room, whether virtual or real, to fully
co-ordinate across government. I have recently been told that we
are no longer co-ordinating across departments. I ask my noble
friend to go back to his department to make sure that we continue
to co-ordinate with everyone who is working on life sciences in
government, so that we do not have one discussion and then have
to talk to people outside the room.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I certainly shall, and through the creation of the Department for
Science, Innovation and Technology, the point my noble friend
makes is highlighted. This is an area where the UK has a globally
unique offer, because we have already established a network of
medicines manufacturing innovation centres which the industry can
use to develop its own technologies, giving it a competitive
edge, so the point he raises is important.
(CB)
My Lords, although I agree with the comments made by the noble
Lords, and , also affecting the
manufacture and development of medicines in the United Kingdom
now is our ability to conduct clinical trials, particularly phase
3 trials. We are good at starting phase 1 trials but by the time
it comes to phase 3, not enough patients have been recruited and
so the commercial trials come to an end. That means that we are
not developing new medicines for cancers, cardiac disease and
rare diseases. We need much more co-ordination from the
Government, from the regulatory authorities for medicine and the
ethics research authority, and from integrated care boards and
trusts, so that the recruitment of patients continues at phase
3.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord makes an important point. With the change in
regulation following our departure from the European Union, we
have further freedom to act in this area. It is important that we
continue to seize those opportunities and ensure that we are at
the cutting edge of scientific exploration. I will refer his
points back to the department.
(Lab)
My Lords, it is said that India is the pharmacy of the world.
Some 50% of generic drugs are manufactured there. Is it in the
interests of the taxpayer for our National Health Service to
increase its purchases from India?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
We want to increase the manufacture of medicines in the UK as
well. I have mentioned the importance to our economy and to the
creation of jobs, particularly high-skilled jobs, in the UK. As
79% of manufacturing sites and 76% of manufacturing jobs in the
UK are outside London and the south-east, there is an important
angle there as well to support our work on levelling up. However,
these are global challenges, and we want to see global solutions
to them.
(Lab)
My Lords, is not yet another reason why the pharmaceutical
industry is getting anxious that it relies heavily on the science
base in basic sciences, and the basic sciences rely heavily on
international collaboration? Our ability to attract and bring
collaboration from the rest of Europe has been harmed by Brexit.
What are the Government doing to redress that problem?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The UK holds the number one spot for life sciences investment in
Europe, second only to the United States globally. However, the
noble Lord is right about ensuring that we have the skilled
talent pool across the industry and from academia and our health
service to continue that growth. The Life Sciences Vision sets
out our commitment to developing a strong talent pool across all
those areas and the Government have developed several skills
programmes that are delivering against our commitments by
developing a pipeline of onshore talent, including through
supporting apprenticeships and improving access to talent from
overseas.
(LD)
My Lords, the report referred to in the Question highlights the
incredible success of Ireland in establishing itself as a global
pharmaceutical manufacturing hub. Can the Minister explain what
steps the Government are taking to learn from Ireland’s success
and apply some of those lessons to the United Kingdom?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
Of course, we keep an eye on what is happening around the world
to ensure that we maintain our competitive edge but, as I said,
we are second only to the United States for life sciences
investment. We are supported by a mature and sophisticated
capital market and the second biggest hub for private equity and
venture capital after the US, so we have many advantages to be
proud of as well.
(Con)
Does my noble friend not agree that it is not only a decline in
the manufacture of medicines but a decline in the manufacture of
medical devices that we see at present? As far as I can make out,
most medical devices are imported from China. Will the Government
consider looking at a market such as Costa Rica, a country which
has as its largest export medical devices, as a friendly and
democratic country that we could do business with?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My noble friend has great expertise in the economies of Latin
America and South America. I will ensure that the example of
Costa Rica is being heeded in the department.
(Lab)
My Lords, all I am hearing is “managed decline”. The MMIP report
set six themes for developments in medicines manufacturing,
highlighting the importance of a resilient, stable manufacturing
base to supply UK and global needs. The report aims to ensure
that we have a competitive edge in a world of trade bottlenecks
and political instability. What steps are the Government taking
to collaborate internationally to secure better regulatory
co-operation and trade facilitation to enable this? While we are
at it, can the Minister update the House on the Horizon programme
association bid, given the progress with the Northern Ireland
protocol that we have been told about today?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord is very up to the minute with the final part of
his question, so I will perhaps defer my answer until I have seen
what detail emerges. As I explained in the recent Question on
Horizon, it is still the Government’s desire to join the
programme. We hope that the EU will adhere to the terms of the
trade and co-operation agreement, which we mentioned.
The pharmaceutical industry in the UK employs more than 136,000
people, of whom more than 48,000 are in manufacturing sites. The
bulk of those are across the country, outside London and the
south-east. There is perhaps not cause for as much gloom as the
noble Lord had in his question, but we know that there is more
work to be done, hence the work of the Life Sciences Vision and
the innovative manufacturing fund to which I referred. We look
forward to announcing the first winners of that fund later this
year.
