Life Sciences is the key industry in Greater Cambridgeshire. Recognising this, Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a £650 million fund to fire up this sector and drive forward the government’s desire to grow the UK economy.
Why a Life Sciences Growth Package
Life Sciences is Greater Cambridge’s main industry and one of the UK’s most successful sectors. In general, life sciences is worth over £94 billion to the UK economy in 2021, a 9% increase on the year before. As a key industry driving UK growth the Chancellor identifies this sector as a focus for government. It wants to ensure regulation aids innovation, government funding is targeted at vital projects and investment is diverse. This also helps to deliver the Science and Technology framework through reforming regulation, boosting investment and driving up talent and skills.
Life Sci for Growth Package
The new “Life Sci for Growth” package introduction was to UK Life Science Council at a Downing Street meeting today. There were a number of Life Sciences industry stakeholders present.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Our Life Sciences sector employs over 280,000 people, makes £94 billion for the UK each year and produced the world’s first covid vaccine. These are businesses that are growing our economy while having much wider benefits for our health. And this multi-million pound investment will help them go even further.“
The Life Sci for Growth package is to do the following:
- bring together 10 different policies
- provide £121 million to improve commercial clinical trials to create new medicines faster
- up to £48 million of new money for scientific innovation to prepare for future health emergencies
- £154 million to increase the capacity of the UK’s biological data bank to aid scientific discoveries
- up to £250 million to incentivise pension schemes to invest in our most promising science and tech firms
- lay out plans to relaunch the Academic Health Science Network as Health Innovation Networks. This is to bring together NHS, local communities, charities, academia and industry to share best practice
- lay out changes to planning rules to free-up lab space
- update a route for East West Rail (EWR), the new railway line, to improve connections between UK science powerhouses Oxford and Cambridge, bringing more investment to the region
The last two points are of particular interest to now consider more closely.
Life Sciences Hubs Rail Transport Link
Cambridge and Oxford are the two main hubs of Life Sciences in the UK and travelling between the two cities is challenging. Travelling by rail involves going first into London to change trains then out to Oxford, and vice versa.
The government in this package has signalled its ongoing commitment to the new East West Rail line between both cities. It states that this region is a globally renowned hub of science, research and innovation, and the railway will support job creation and growth at towns and cities along the route. Today government announced its preferred alignment for the section between Bedford and Cambridge through the EWR Company. The route has a direct link to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus through the Cambridge South Station. It also has a proposed train station north of Cambourne. Full details of the East West Rail route update is here.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “The cities of Oxford and Cambridge are renowned across the globe for their academic excellence – East West Rail will be vital in allowing them to thrive for generations to come and help to grow the economy.
With the potential to unlock £103 billion of growth through new homes, businesses and job opportunities, this crucial line will also serve as a catalyst for development in one of Europe’s most vibrant local economies while making travel quicker, cheaper and easier across the region.”
There are further implications to that statement for future unpacking.
Life Sciences Stakeholders
Some of the stakeholders present at today’s Life Sci Growth Package introduction were:
- Steve Bates OBE, CEO of Bioindustry Association
- Richard Torbett, Chief Executive, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
- Peter Ellingworth, CEO of Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI)
They all spoke and you can read their comments on the government website.
Conclusion
Government today has announced its plans to grow the Life Sciences sector in the UK. In particular launching the £650 million Life Sci Growth Fund package to fund research as well as the new section of the East West Rail link from Bedford to Cambridge. Full details of the announcement is on the government website here.