The prescription for growth: how the UK can become a life sciences leader

Nico Reynders, General Manager - Pharma | UCB UK & Ireland

Many fields within scientific research are still in their infancy, and there is an opportunity for the UK to capitalise on emerging technologies. If we seize this opportunity, we can then discover more medicines, treat more patients, nurture talent in academia, and ultimately deliver economic growth. The new Labour government has detailed encouraging plans for the sector – setting out their Prescription for Growth – however more must be done in areas such as workforce, access to innovation and regulatory alignment to reverse current negative trends and unlock the UK’s true life sciences potential.^1,2

Unlocking innovation through collaboration
Unlike many other pharmaceutical companies, UCB research and undertake early stage manufacturing at our UK site, and we are a leading domestic Research and Development (R&D) investor.³ We do this by working in collaboration with the NHS and academia, turning promising science into valuable health solutions. Over the next decade, we are looking to deepen our collaboration with academia and researchers domestically – an increasingly challenging, but also exciting, opportunity. We are working closely with academia to support the development of the next generation of scientists, and are currently supporting 15 students across nine universities with their PhDs, which includes training for around six months in our UK labs, as well as supporting 13 apprenticeships.⁴ Government plans to create a secure future for higher education and use institutions to drive economic growth through innovation are welcome, as universities in the UK enter an increasingly uncertain period.

Nurturing scientific talent
A key pillar to leveraging the plethora of talent in the UK is retaining our young scientists, showing them the value of staying in the country and developing professionally. We operate in an increasingly global economy and the success of the life sciences sector depends on access to talent, especially in areas of growth such as digital and data. The development and retention of UK scientific talent should therefore be an early priority for the Labour government, with the life sciences industry acting as a pilot sector that finds new ways of working to help close the skills gap. As well as hard skills, initiatives should promote workforce diversity, as well as build ‘green skills’ for the betterment of the environment. The government plans to reform the Apprenticeships Levy into a ‘Growth and Skills Levy’ are an important starting point in nurturing scientific talent.

Developing a pro-innovation system
An aligned and purposeful regulatory ecosystem is paramount to supporting the continued success of UK science.⁵ The competitiveness of UK regulatory processes – in clinical trials, access and uptake to medicines and availability of scientific talent – is a key consideration in global board rooms when making investment decisions. By developing a pro-innovation system, the UK can help to encourage inward investment that drives economic growth and improves patient outcomes.

For instance, whilst the previous government made the welcome move to rejoin Horizon Europe, there remains a need to strengthen the UK’s life sciences standing and reconnect with the European scientific community. This is important as a lack of international scientific co-operation can affect investment decisions.⁶ Whilst we remain committed to investing in the UK – as our new £1bn site in Windlesham demonstrates – we want to see bodies such as the MHRA work towards securing international recognition and global harmonisation of evidence requirements. By doing this, we can enable an efficient review process – providing patients with faster access to innovative treatments.

Indeed, for the UK to be considered a leader in R&D and life sciences, we need to ensure that there is a fast and effective route to market for new treatments. UCB’s ability to continue to invest into the UK economy and grow our scientific base is dependent on patient access to new innovations. UCB would like to see a full eco-system review into the barriers preventing patients from accessing treatment and looking at how we can better use the current levers available to us. Cross-Departmental efforts in government to encourage innovation could buck the trend of emerging and innovative enterprises faltering in Europe and blossoming in the US, as in the early days of biotech 30 years ago.⁷ 

Realising the prescription for growth
We remain encouraged by the government’s vision for life sciences and were heartened to see up to £400m of investment secured last month to support clinical trials and expediate medicines approvals processes.⁸ The previously published Prescription for Growth strategy also sets out an ambitious vision for the sector, with welcome focus on access to medicines, regulatory efficiency and encouraging R&D. These are all welcome steps and reflect the value of life sciences to the UK − which in 2023 contributed over £13bn to the UK economy.⁹ 

However, despite these positive steps, the need for urgent action remains – the recent life sciences competitiveness indicators revealed fewer clinical trials conducted in the UK, underperforming foreign direct investment levels, and first-year uptake of medicines at only 50 per cent compared to relevant comparator countries.^10,11 These challenges are very real and the UK is now becoming a more difficult place to launch medicines – even in areas of high unmet patient need. For example, despite UK-based UCB scientists developing innovations in the management of myasthenia gravis (MG) – a condition which causes fatigue and extreme muscle weakness^12,13 – current regulatory barriers risk a scenario that patients in the UK will not be able to access a treatment discovered here. 

At UCB, we believe that with the right action and leadership, the UK has the potential to not only reverse these trends, but to re-establish its position as a true global leader in life sciences. We stand ready to work with academia, the NHS and the government to help deliver a brighter future for UK life sciences.

If you are attending the Labour or Conservative party conferences, you may be interested in attending UCB's fringes on boosting the UK's health and wealth through life sciences research. Please visit The Health & Care Forum website for more information. 

IE-DA-2400418 Date of preparation: September 2024

1. Bicknell, G. and Talbot, J. (2024) UK Life Sciences Sector Hopes for new government ‘Turning point’, Pinsent Masons. Available at: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/uk-life-sciences-sector-hopes-new-government-turning-point (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

2. Calvert, M.J. et al. (2020) ‘Advancing UK Regulatory Science and Innovation in Healthcare’, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 114(1), pp. 5–11. doi:10.1177/0141076820961776.

3. Campaign for Science and Engineering. UCB joins CaSE (2024). Available at: https://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/press/detail/ucb-joins-case/ (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

4. UCB, UCB in the UK. Information on file.

5. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (2024) UK life science industry sets out priorities for the budget. Available at: https://www.abpi.org.uk/media/news/2024/february/uk-life-science-industry-sets-out-priorities-for-the-budget/ (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

6. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (2022) Building the UK’s international research collaborations. Available at: https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/building-the-uk-s-international-research-collaborations/ (Accessed: 9th September 2024).

7. Craig, A. and Poszepczynski, M. (2024) The changing face of biotechnology, Schroders. Available at: https://www.schroders.com/en-gb/uk/individual/content/the-changing-face-of-biotechnology/ (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

8. UK Government (2024) UK secures £400 million investment to boost clinical trials. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-secures-400-million-investment-to-boost-clinical-trials (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

9. Gladstone, E. (2024) UK life sciences are set for growth, but challenges remain, Oxford Economics. Available at: https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/uk-life-sciences-are-set-for-growth-but-challenges-remain/#:~:text=The%20life%20sciences%20industry%20makes,billion%20to%20the%20national%20economy. (Accessed: 5th September 2024).

10. UK Government (2024) Life Sciences Competitiveness Indicators 2024: Summary. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-sector-data-2024/life-sciences-competitiveness-indicators-2024-summary (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

11. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (2023) Number of industry clinical trials initiated in the UK per year, by phase (2012-2021). Available at: https://www.abpi.org.uk/facts-figures-and-industry-data/clinical-trials/uk-data/number-of-industry-clinical-trials-initiated-in-the-uk-per-year-by-phase-2012-2021/ (Accessed: 5th September 2024).

12. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2020) Myasthenia gravis fact sheet. (Accessed: 2nd September 2024).

13. Yale Medicine (2024) Myasthenia Gravis. Available at: https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/myasthenia-gravis#:~:text=Overview,to%2040%20Americans%20per%20100%2C000. (Accessed: 5th September 2024).

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