The vision of Life Science Leader is to be an essential business tool for life science executives. Our content is designed to not only inform readers of best practices, but motivate them to implement those best practices in their own businesses.
Issue link: https://lifescienceleadermag.epubxp.com/i/118943
Global Business Update Biotechnology In The U.K.: Growing And Changing Suzanne Elvidge, contributing editor T he U.K. has a long and deep-rooted heritage in life sciences and medicine, and a history of breakthroughs from Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin to Watson and Crick's elucidation of DNA. Today the U.K.'s biotech sector is still growing despite the current economic climate. As an example, in 2012 the turnover of the U.K. medical biotech sector increased 5% to almost £4 billion ($6 billion), as Steve Bates, CEO of the BioIndustry Association (the U.K. biotech industry's trade association), explained. "The U.K. has an established pharma industry with a long history, which includes large and small companies, and a CRO sector that is growing in response to increased outsourcing and risk sharing in the pharmaceutical industry," says Mark Treherne, CEO, Life Science Investment Organization (LSIO), a U.K. Trade and Industry (UKTI) initiative to promote investment in the U.K. life sciences industry. GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH Biotech and medical research in the U.K. has a global reputation. In a recent report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the U.K. is second only to the United States as a source of new drug development, generating more than 10% of all new therapeutics worldwide. "The U.K. has a number of key strengths — it has a strong and supported ecosystem, well-established strengths in science, a good clinical community, and entrepre- 62 LifeScienceLeader.com neurial people. We are well-connected globally," says Bates. A number of subsectors are performing well in the U.K. life sciences; for example, the specialty pharma companies and the medtech sector. Also on the up is the relatively new field of cell therapy. "Specialty pharma companies are often small and low-profile, but they are growing and building sustainable value through development and marketing. The U.K. also has a growing medtech sector, particularly in combination therapies and companion diagnostics, together with pharma services," says Steven Powell, CEO, Virttu Biologics, a clinical stage U.K. biotech company pioneering the development of viruses to treat cancer. One of the strategically important, though still relatively young, subsectors in the U.K. is that of stem cell science, including cell therapy and regenerative medicine, explains Michael Hunt, CEO, ReNeuron, a clinical-stage stem cell company. "The U.K. has always been one of the forerunners in cell therapy, but now more emphasis is being put April 2013 on translation, moving projects into the clinic and beyond. However, regenerative medicine lacks a credible investor base in the U.K. — it's novel, which can scare investors off." The Cell Therapy Catapult, a Londonbased technology center, has been created to help very early-stage companies in this field. Its aim is to provide access to finance and expertise, and help to move products into clinical trials. Programs like this will help to build confidence and reduce risk in new areas. DRIVEN FROM ABOVE: NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR U.K. BIOTECH The U.K. government is behind biotech, and in December 2011, it launched the Strategy for U.K. Life Sciences, which made a commitment to improving the translation of scientific invention and innovation into products and services. The government's commitments include tax relief programs to support both large and small companies, such as the "Patent Box" (see "Innovation In The U.K. Biopharma Industry," Life Science Leader March 2010), and R&D; tax credits.