UK life sciences industry bags first government 'sector deal'

UK life sciences companies have inked a 'sector deal' as part of the government's new industrial strategy, including commitments from GlaxoSmithKline to invest £40m in UK genetic research and from Merck to invest in a major new research facility in London.

The sector deal brings together a number of commitments and investments into the UK by 25 organisations from across the sector, also including by global healthcare firm Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

GSK said the sector deal contained "a number of very practical commitments to strengthen the UK’s life science base and make it more attractive to international investment in areas such as clinical trials and high-tech research".

Merck's new life sciences discovery research facility and headquarters in the UK will support 950 jobs, including 150 new high-skilled and high-value research roles.

Johnson & Johnso's Janssen Pharmaceutica has agreed to collaborate with Oxford University on novel clinical trial methodologies, including platform trials, focused on mental health disorders such as depression.

Another of the agreements is from the Medicines Company, which has agreed two projects, one with the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to improve the understanding, management and economics of cardiovascular disease.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: "The United Kingdom is extraordinarily well-placed to play a leading role in this revolution in the life sciences. Our universities and research institutes rank among the best in the world."

With the UK home to many of successful global life sciences businesses and the NHS, he said was "appropriate that the first Sector Deal of our Industrial Strategy should be with the life sciences sector".

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "The UK has a huge amount to offer the life sciences sector, combining globally renowned scientific research bases with our world leading NHS which allows innovators to test and refine products at scale. Today proves that life science organisations of all sizes will continue to grow and thrive in the coming years, which means NHS patients will continue to be at the front of the queue for new treatments."

The sector deal is based around some of the recommendations in a government report on the sector by Professor Sir John Bell, Regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, which recommended the creation of two or three entirely new industries, and four UK companies worth more than £20bn over the next decade.

On Wednesday he said: "This life sciences sector deal demonstrates how powerful it can be to have industry, the NHS, the research community and charities all working together to provide important new insights that can lead to the discovery and implementation of novel innovations for healthcare.

"It represents a significant change in both pace and culture that I hope will lead to a flow of such investments into the future."