UK biotech forced to hang on for government aid
pharmafile | January 9, 2009 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â biotechÂ
Cash-stricken UK biotech has been left hanging on for government funding, without any guarantee it will get the support needed.
Last month industry leaders made an urgent and unprecedented plea for state finance, saying the sector had reached 'breaking point'.
But government officials have declined to respond with any priority, warning that other sectors are also in need of aid.
In December 22 prominent biotech figures said a major cash injection was the sector's only hope for survival and they asked Gordon Brown and business secretary Lord Mandelson for almost £1.5 billion.
The goal was to spread the sum between two funds to aid consolidation among smaller companies and help the UK's larger, more successful biotechs to buy other assets and to fund clinical trials.
But a spokesman for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform declined to comment on when ministers would reply to the request, and indicated there was no assurance that funding would be granted.
When asked if any priority had been given to the request, the Department was non-committal.
Instead it defended its support for the UK's biotech industry by saying it had already begun a review of the sector – which started with the Cooksey report and will be concluded in the first half of this year.
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Tuesday, December 09, 2008
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