£17 million of new funding has been announced by the Chancellor
today, helping to unlock real benefits for the NHS and patients.
This money, as part of our ambitious industrial strategy, will
help new drug discovery and support mental health treatment,
translating the UK’s scientific expertise into real life
treatments.
The life sciences industry provides medical treatments which the
NHS and its 60 million patients rely on every year. The industry
is also critical to the UK economy - with over 5,000 companies
employing nearly 235,000 workers and generating £63.5 billion
turnover.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
“We have a successful and resilient economy which is supporting a
record number of people into employment. My focus now, and going
into the Budget, is on boosting productivity so that we can
deliver higher-wage jobs and a better standard of living for
people across the country.
“That is why I am visiting the Francis Crick Institute, where
they are using cutting-edge research to generate real-life health
improvements. The UK has world-leading expertise in life sciences
– an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people – and
it is through supporting growth in these cutting edge industries
that we will build a competitive economy that works for
everyone.”
Science minister, said:
“The UK is home to world-leading expertise in life sciences with
over 5,000 companies and turnover of £64 billion and the
Government is committed to continuing to help this sector go from
strength to strength.
“Through the recently published Life Sciences Industrial Strategy
and our progress towards a Life Sciences Sector Deal, we are
determined to cement the UK’s position as a global leader and
capitalise on its strengths to encourage both economic growth and
improve health outcomes for patients.”
The Chancellor is visiting the Francis Crick Institute, the
largest biomedical research laboratory in Europe, which was
created with £350 million of government investment. The ‘Crick’
houses 1,250 scientists and 250 other staff conducting
cutting-edge biomedical research to enable the discovery of drugs
and treatments of the future.
The Chancellor announces funding for three new areas:
-
Cryo-electron microscope - £5 million for a state
of the art microscope to build 3D models of biological
components. This can help drug discovery become faster and
cheaper.
-
Innovation hub - £7 million to set up a new lab
with state of the art equipment and research scientists. This
lab will establish the UK Centre for Engineering Biology,
Metrology and Standards.
-
Business catalyst - £5 million to expand the
‘Confidence in Concept’ business catalyst scheme and boost
treatment for mental health. This scheme has already produced
26 business spin-outs, 70 patents and £277 million of follow on
funding from the private sector.
25 new jobs were also announced today by GammaDelta Therapeutics,
a British company founded by scientists from the Crick, King’s
College London and Cancer Research UK. The company
recorded £100 million worth of investment earlier this year
to develop the drugs of the future.
The UK is a world-leader in the life sciences. The UK represents
just 0.9% of the global population but produces 15.2% of the
world's most highly-cited articles. Research productivity in this
sector is twice as great as the United States and almost three
times greater than in Germany. We have an
internationally-recognised life sciences cluster in the South
East of England, comprising Oxford, Cambridge and London and the
area between them. It houses four of the world’s top twenty
universities (three in the top ten), four of the top ten medical
sciences faculties in the world and some of the world’s largest
research institutes – the Sanger Institute, the Francis Crick
Institute and Harwell. The Government is supporting the sector by
increasing investment in R&D by an extra £2 billion a year by
the end of this Parliament.
The Life Sciences Industrial Strategy was published in August. It
is an industry led project bringing together businesses, from
across the medical technology, biopharmaceutical, and digital
sectors, as well as charities, academia and the NHS.
