Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what analysis he has undertaken of the reasons for the fall of drug manufacturing output in the UK since 2010; what steps he plans to take to ensure that the UK pharmaceutical industry is globally competitive; and if he will make a statement.

The global pharmaceutical sector along with other industries has faced challenges in coping with the economic downturn and global squeeze on prices. Pharmaceutical global restructuring has resulted in a significant number of plant closures in Europe including in the UK due to industry-wide overcapacity in manufacturing, expiry of patents on some of the medicines manufactured in the UK and slow growth of the European pharmaceutical market over the last few years, due to budget constraints. The figures are also partly due to the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry moving from a focus on small molecules to biological products, which require different manufacturing plants and capabilities.

We are working with the sector, in particular through the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership, to respond to the opportunities and challenges it has identified. For example, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Innovation office published four case studies that exemplify why the UK is a leading place to introduce new manufacturing processes. We have invested significantly in national centres such as the cell therapy and precision medicine catapults. We have also invested £55m in a Cell Therapy Manufacturing Centre, £38m in the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre and £28m in a National Formulation Centre. In addition, £13 million has been invested in 7 medicines manufacturing projects under the Regional Growth Fund, leveraging an £108m in private sector investment.

These initiatives will help us to develop advanced medicines manufacturing, which should enable us to build new industries in areas such as cell and gene therapies. The Life Sciences Strategy launched in December 2011 set the foundations for this renewal. We estimate that since then at least £3.5 billion inward investment into the UK has been secured, creating over 11,000 new jobs.

Recently, Glaxo SmithKline and Astra Zeneca have both made significant commitments to invest in manufacturing in the UK. In addition, non UK domiciled companies have recognised the opportunity of manufacturing in the UK, with Fujifilm Diosynth, opening a new manufacturing facility in October 2013 and Eisai opening its new packaging facility in November 2014.