UK’s research ‘Super Cluster’ unveiled
pharmafile | January 27, 2010 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | ABPI, clinical research, innovation, patent box
GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Andrew Witty has hailed a new UK government ‘blueprint’ to help improve the country’s competitiveness in the field of pharma, biotech devices and diagnostics.
Witty was present at the launch of the new initiative called ‘Delivering the Blueprint’ jointly launched by business secretary Lord Mandelson and health secretary Andy Burnham in London yesterday.
The UK has been Europe’s pre-eminent centre for discovering new drugs for decades, but growing international competition and red tape and lack of engagement from the NHS are threatening its international standing.
The government’s Office of Life Sciences was set up just 12 months ago, and has rapidly drawn up plan for bringing together industry, academia and the health service to work more closely than ever before.
The pharma, biotech, devices and diagnostic sectors have been consulted on how to help overcome numerous obstacles. Among the most eye-catching initiatives are plans for a research ‘Super Cluster’ to bring together industry, academia and health service expertise, and the ‘Innovation Pass’ which would allow some drugs to bypass NICE at launch.
Andrew Witty praised the government’s efforts: “We are always very good at asking things from government, but I think this is one of those moments to pause to congratulate them on doing some of the things we have asked for over the last few years.”
“They have put great energy into the number one thing we were looking for, which was a more integrated approach,” he noted, adding that the initiative would contribute to helping innovation, better value for money and improving patient outcomes in the UK.
“I think we have seen over the last 12 months a degree of co-ordination through the OLS which we haven’t seen previously, it doesn’t happen very often in different parts of the world. So it is something we should be grateful for.”
Witty added that the shake-up in the global economy was an opportunity for the UK to increase its ‘market share’ in high value industries, and the Blueprint was the sort of initiative that would help it attract investment.
Leaders from the NHS and academia have also been part of the collaboration, which pharma association the ABPI has hailed as demonstrating ‘the power of partnership’.
Director general Richard Barker said: “Life Sciences 2010 is a major milestone in the OLS initiative and demonstrates the potential of this new model of industry and government collaboration to deliver truly tangible results.
“Work to implement and extend this strategy must be a high priority for both government and industry in the coming years, to maintain the UK’s leadership role and the flow of life-changing, innovative therapies for patients.”
The ABPI sees the Blueprint injecting a fresh sense of urgency to the key challenge of securing a flourishing life sciences industry in the UK and said the key measures in Life Sciences 2010 will act to “strengthen the lifeline from British life science discoveries to NHS patients”.
The key measures in Life Sciences 2010:
· Skills: A Industry-Higher Education Forum that will bring together stakeholders in life sciences higher education for the first time. The Forum will take a strategic view of critical disciplines and skills gaps (e.g clinical pharmacology and in vivo sciences), considered vital for the UK to succeed in the global race for talent.
· Super Cluster: Unique in the UK, the creation of Capability Clusters, initially focusing on respiratory and inflammatory joint disease, will strengthen collaborative efforts between academia, the NHS and industry with the aim of creating an holistic approach to new drug development.
· Clinical research: Clinical trials are now to be considered a core part of NHS activity (outlined in the recent NHS Operating Framework). The ABPI says the next step should be specific performance targets and it looks forward to working with OLS in the next phase to strengthen the priority for clinical research – particularly as it says the longer term impact of the Super Cluster will be contingent on this.
· Regenerative medicine: The Technology Strategy Board is managing a £21.5 million programme to support key areas of commercial R&D and the development of R&D partnerships in ‘Regen Med’.
· Patent Box: This is aimed at helping to retain UK discoveries for UK development and manufacturing. This initiative hinges on tax breaks on patents, a tactic used successfully by countries such as Ireland and Singapore to attract manufacturing investment. However the exact terms are yet to be agreed, and getting the details of the scheme right will be crucial to its success.
· The Innovation Pass: This will allow certain new medicines which show promise for patients but that will struggle to show cost effectiveness at launch to reach NHS patients more quickly. The ABPI is to work with OLS and government economists to agree on which drugs will be eligible, and how the system will be regulated more generally.
· NHS Life Sciences Delivery Board: The Delivery Board, announced in Going for Growth: Our Future Prosperity, is tasked with improving the uptake and adoption of innovative medicines and technologies, to benefit patients.
· Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP): The ABPI says industry has much to contribute in working with the NHS to bring its products and skills to address its Quality & Productivity challenge.
Related Content
The November 2020 issue of Pharmafocus is available to read free online now!
The latest monthly edition of Pharmafocus is available to read for free online now!
UK life sciences industry does not want no-deal Brexit, says ABPI Chief
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s sudden change of position that the UK is now expecting a …
ABPI Chief Executive Mike Thompson to retire by the end of 2019
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has announced that its Chief Executive Mike …
