Drug makers urge Government to invest £140m in sector

BRITAIN’S £60bn life sciences sector has called on the Government to invest up to £140m in building four drug manufacturing “centres of excellence” to help move the country’s world-leading lab research onto production lines.

In a report by UK drug makers, the industry says it needs public sector help to realise the potential of its R&D and make the country the “best place in the world for future medicines”.

The report, Manufacturing Vision for UK Pharma, is a blueprint for the life sciences sector to catch up lost ground on international rivals such as the US, Japan, Singapore and Ireland when it comes to commercialising medical breakthroughs.

It also urges pharmaceutical firms to learn from their counterparts in the automotive and aerospace sectors when it comes to partnering with Government and pooling R&D efforts, particularly from their push towards cleaner tech such as electric vehicles.

“The UK is brilliant at very early discovery but mass manufacturing is something we need to build on,” said Greg Anderson, report author and technology and innovation lead for the Medicine Manufacturing Industry Partnership (MMIP).

“It’s where we have lost out in the past. We want the UK to lead.”

The MMIP comprises trade bodies the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Bioindustry Association and quango Innovate UK.

It comes ahead of the launch of the Government’s life sciences industrial strategy, which is expected within weeks and will set out policies to boost investment and cut red tape. The four proposed centres of excellence – which would be spread around the UK – include a manufacturing hub in Scotland focused on small molecules and a complex medicine centre, each expected to cost close to £60m.

A third hub would be a packaging and material innovation centre costing £26m, while the fourth, focused on gene therapy, is already under construction.

Mr Anderson said industry could help foot the bill, but he “expected a bit more contribution from government up front”.