Life Sciences and sustainability shine in new UK industrial strategy
"Growth is the number one mission of this government. Our new Industrial Strategy is central to that Growth Mission". So starts the Green Paper setting out the new UK Government's vision for an Industrial Strategy that plans to 2035 and beyond.
The strategy aims to increase the UK’s share of international investment in key strategic sectors. The Green Paper lists eight priority sectors of the economy. One is Life Sciences. Another is Digital & Technologies. The Green Paper is a consultation that seeks input, and this will lead to each sector having their own sector plans in 2025. Stakeholders are asked to answer questions by 24 November 2024, and they cover a proposed approach to market dynamism and commercialisation, regulation, innovation, people and skills, challenges, partnership, metrics, and implementation.
On Life Sciences, the Green Paper says the following:
"Over the next decade, the life sciences sector holds enormous potential to drive economic growth and productivity while significantly improving health outcomes for thousands of patients across the country. This sector delivers goods that are critical to the functioning of our economy and society and increases the UK’s resilience, for example, to epidemics. Recent breakthroughs, such as the development of promising new vaccines targeting cancer, underscore the transformative impact of the sector. The UK’s life sciences sector offers unparalleled opportunities for future economic growth, propelled by new discoveries, data availability, AI, groundbreaking treatments, personalised healthcare, and innovative manufacturing processes.
"Crucially, the UK’s life sciences sector is built on a strong foundation, with over 6,800 businesses in 2021/22 that generated over £100 billion in turnover. The UK is also home to four of the top 10 global universities for life sciences and medicine, and with the expertise of the NHS, the UK is a global hub for innovation.
"There is an opportunity to renew the UK’s leadership in life sciences, strengthening and supporting the areas where the UK is already effective alongside bold innovation and collective partnership, with business, academia, and the health system to drive economic growth and build an NHS fit for the future. The sector sits at the intersection of healthcare innovation and cutting-edge technologies offering immense potential to transform public health, enabling people to live longer and healthier lives, and boosting productivity, while driving high-value job creation and attracting significant investment."
So - a lot of words, and the detail will need to be fleshed out.
Throughout the Green Paper, there is huge emphasis on sustainability - not only is Clean Energy one of the eight sectors to be prioritised, but references to achieving and aligning with Net Zero pervade everything. Here is an example, which shows that the sector plans will have some Net Zero and environmental objectives:
"The UK is committed to sustainable growth – growth that is aligned with our Net Zero and environmental objectives. The UK approach will demonstrate global climate leadership, including focusing on supporting the Clean Energy Mission. It will build a strong domestic industrial base across services and manufacturing to gain strategic economic advantage – creating good, well-paid jobs in the green sectors of today and of the future. This includes opportunities presented by the circular economy. The Net Zero objectives for the Industrial Strategy will be to:
a. Capture the growth opportunities of the Clean Energy Mission and Net Zero transition.
b. Identify and support Clean Energy industrial sectors with the greatest growth potential.
c. Align sector plans with Net Zero and environmental objectives."
A critical paragraph is this: "The Industrial Strategy will be ambitious and targeted. Its primary objective is to drive growth, by taking advantage of the UK’s unique strengths and untapped potential, enabling the UK’s world-leading sectors to adapt and grow, and seizing opportunities to lead in new sectors, with high quality, well-paid jobs. It will shape the type of growth being pursued: the Government will also seek to support Net Zero, regional growth, and economic security and resilience. It will be grounded in long-term stability, a renewed commitment to free and fair trade, and a pro-business approach focused on reducing barriers to investment in the UK."
The aim will be to build on the following UK strengths:
- High quality research institutions
- Innovative firms
- A world leading trading country, being the second biggest service exporter in the world
- One of the most globally connected economies in the world
- World-leading track record of decarbonisation, having been the first major economy to halve its emissions, between 1990 and 2022
- Strong pro-entrepreneurial environment
- Diverse and highly skilled workforce
- Recognised regulatory and competition institutions
- London as a global, urban powerhouse
- Huge potential regionally
- One of the top destinations for Foreign Direct Investment
There is also reference to developing clusters and places, and giving local areas in regions the opportunities to thrive. There is an emphasis on creating partnerships too.
The Government will establish a statutory, independent, and evidence-led Industrial Strategy Council (ISC), reporting to the Business and Trade Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The ISC will inform and monitor the development and delivery of the Industrial Strategy.
Over the coming months, the Government will work with businesses, unions, representative groups and others to develop the Industrial Strategy. There will be consultations, focused roundtables and conversations across the whole country. The response to the Green Paper will be in the final Industrial Strategy and Sector Plans in Spring 2025.
Importance of sustainability in the life sciences sector
It is clear that Life Sciences is a priority sector for the UK and a driver for growth. It is great to see the new Government's continued commitment to this, following on from the previous Government.
Although this is just a Green Paper, there are some clear themes that are going to be central to what businesses will need to do and demonstrate in the next 10 years. That includes Sustainability.
The theme of the PING Conference for 2025 will be Sustainability - what must pharma do now?