Chancellor announces ‘Life Sci for Growth’
26 May 2023 03:04 PM
The Chancellor has announced an investment package of £650m to boost the life sciences sector, titled ‘Life Sci for Growth’, bringing together 10 different policies.
Following the publication of the Lord O’Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials and Dame Angela McLean’s review on the life science regulatory system, the Chancellor has committed £121m, made up of new and existing funding, to speed up clinical trials and improve access to data through the Clinical Trial Acceleration Networks.
This is in addition to £154m towards to upgrading the UK Biobank capabilities.
Once anounced, techUK will be responding to the call for proposals on the government’s Long-Term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative. Sign-up to our newsletter below to get involved.
In addition to these funding commitments, the government has stated:
- Ongoing commitment to the East West Rail line between Oxford and Cambridge.
- Funding to boost the UK’s health resilience; a Biomanufacturing Fund worth up to £38 million, £10m towards projects to drive innovation in medicines manufacturing as part of Innovate UK’s ‘Transforming Medicines Manufacturing Programme’.
- Commitment to increasing lab space through reforming planning rules to help scientists. Proposals including local authorities taking greater account of R&D needs in their planning decisions.
- £42.7 million for the Mental Health Mission will go towards delivering treatments to patients, setting up a new centre in Liverpool to understand how mental, physical and social conditions interlink, and a site in Birmingham to support research and novel treatments for early intervention in psychosis, depression and children.
- Re-licensing Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) for a five-year period.
techUK has recently launched its Supercharging UK Tech and Innovation campaign, convening industry leaders to navigate why UK Government have been championing the science and technology superpower rhetoric, and what this actually means for the tech sector.
It is great to see recognition of the importance of the life sciences industry in achieving economic growth matched with funding, and techUK welcomes the consolidation of strategies to provide clarity for industry and partners. The technology sector has a huge role to play in helping to deliver life sciences commitments. techUK represents hundreds of companies with innovations that can accelerate clinical trials, make better use of data for population health management, and ultimately achieve better health outcomes for citizens. The UK tech sector now adds over £150bn to the UK economy every year, making it one the UK’s highest contributing sectors, and should be seen as integral to this strategy.
Julian David, CEO
techUK
To get involved in techUK’s life sciences work, find out more here or email alex.lawrence@techuk.org.