Life Sciences Super
Cluster Announced as Support for Life Sciences is Bolstered
Today the
Government announced plans for a new UK Life Sciences Super
Cluster, supported by £1 million of Government investment.
Bringing together industry, academia and the NHS, it will help
deliver the next generation of medicines and technologies needed
to support people suffering from chronic diseases.
At its heart will be the creation of Therapeutic Capability
Clusters. These will be one-stop-shops for the UK’s top research
in specific fields. They will bring together academic and NHS
centres of excellence, which will work with industry to harness
the UK’s expert capabilities and work on early stage clinical
development and experimental medicine.
The new Life Sciences Super Cluster will be kick-started later
this year with a pilot in immunology and inflammation focussing on
disease areas such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
The announcement caps off a year of action for UK Life Sciences.
In July 2009, the OLS published the Life Sciences Blueprint
setting out an ambitious and comprehensive set of measures to
transform the UK operating environment. In the six months since
publication, much has been achieved:
· A Patent Box, applying a 10% rate of corporation tax
to patent-related income from April 2013. This will strengthen
incentives for companies to invest in innovative activity and
locate in the UK. Government will consult with business on the
detailed design of the Box in time for Finance Bill 2011;
· A £21.5 million RegenMed programme managed by the
Technology Strategy Board (TSB), which will support our
growing and strategically-important regenerative medicine
industry. The TSB launched two competitions, involving over 40
companies, in 2009 and will hold further competitions in 2010;
· An Innovation Pass, which will give patients earlier
access to promising licensed medicines. A consultation on this
three-year initiative began in November 2009. A one-year pilot
will start in April 2010 with funding of £25 million;
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Lord
Mandelson said:
“Our Life Sciences industry is exactly the type of high-tech,
high-value industry where Britain has real strengths and the
potential for growth in the future.
“The Government has demonstrated that we are prepared to take
real action to support Life Sciences and this is already having an
impact on investment decisions, but this is just the beginning. We
will maintain this momentum and continue to build a thriving
environment for UK Life Science”
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said:
“Last month I set out a plan to reshape the NHS in the first half
of this new decade – to innovate at every level to meet the
challenge of delivering preventative, people-centred care, that is
also high-quality and highly productive. Working together with
academia and industry, the NHS is championing new treatments,
techniques and technologies to do this.
"As we move into a more challenging financial climate,
successful research and innovation in preventing, diagnosing and
treating disease will be key to increasing both the quality and
productivity of services into the future. Joint initiatives with
the Life Sciences Industry such as Therapeutic Capability
Clusters, and the NHS Life Sciences Innovation Delivery Board are
providing innovative ways to meet that challenge.”
Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson said:
“For life sciences to fulfill its vast economic promise, the NHS
must be an engine for economic growth as well as providing the
best healthcare free at the point of use. The OLS is helping to
make that happen, but there is still a lot to do.”
Notes to Editors
1. The Office for Life Sciences was launched by the Prime
Minister in January 2009. The Life Sciences Blueprint was
published in July 2009 and is available at
www.bis.gov.uk/ols
2. The document published today, Life Sciences 2010: Delivering
the Blueprint, is available from www.bis.gov.uk/ols
3. Today also saw the publication of progress against the vision
set out a year ago for a self-sustaining and thriving bioscience
industry. This includes a new Health Technology Database that will
crucially enable Government to measure success against this
vision, and steps to position the UK so stratified approaches to
healthcare can flourish to the benefit of UK patients and
business. This progress report is available at
http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/B/BIGTR2-progress-report
4. Today also saw the publication of a full economic analysis of
UK Life Sciences that accompanies ‘Life Sciences 2010: Delivering
the Life Sciences Blueprint’. This economic analysis is available
from http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file54303.pdf
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is
building a dynamic and competitive UK economy by: creating the
conditions for business success; promoting innovation, enterprise
and science; and giving everyone the skills and opportunities to
succeed. To achieve this it will foster world-class universities
and promote an open global economy. BIS - Investing in our future.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk