Life Sciences

(asked on 7th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken on the delivery of the Life Sciences Vision including enabling cancer immune therapies.


Answered by
George Freeman Portrait
George Freeman
This question was answered on 15th February 2022

The Government, NHS and Life Science Sector have already taken significant steps in delivering the Life Science Vision. Activity since publication includes the establishment and delivery of the Life Science Scale Up Taskforce, the launch of the £200m Life Sciences Investment Programme, work to improve the NHS’s capacity and capability to utilise new technologies, and innovation work by the Vaccine Taskforce and Antivirals Taskforce to secure access to cutting-edge new technologies to address COVID-19.

Following the conclusion of the 2021 Spending Review on 27th October, the government has confirmed specific funds will be provided upfront to directly support the delivery of the Life Sciences Vision. This includes £95m funding to support the uptake of innovative drugs and technologies and address a number of the Healthcare Missions outlined in the Vision, funding to drive new initiatives through Genomics England to deliver life-changing technologies, and £354m to strengthen the UK’s Life Sciences manufacturing base. This builds on significant programmes of investment in Health Research across DHSC and BEIS, and the largest ever increases in the NHS’s operating budget.

The Office for Life Sciences are working with partner organisations to develop the implementation plan, which will deliver on the commitments as set out in the Life Sciences Vision including supporting the development and commercialisation of immuno-oncology and cancer vaccines in the UK. Further details on the implementation plan will be set out in due course.

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