Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the cancer research sector.

The government is one hundred percent committed to tackling cancer. This is why we made cancer one of our eight healthcare missions, bringing together government, research funders, industry, NHS, and charities to tackle this critical challenge. Working together, the cancer mission will drive earlier diagnosis and improved therapies for UK cancer patients.

We also fund cutting-edge cancer research. The National Institute for Health and Care Research supports clinical research into all aspects of the disease, while UKRI spend on cancer research is in the region of £200M annually.

As well as academic research, we work with industry to bring the latest treatments to UK patients. Our strategic collaboration agreement with BioNTech aims to provide up to 10,000 UK patients with cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies by 2030. Through this partnership we have ensured UK patients are among the first to access clinical trials for ground-breaking cancer vaccines, with multiple trials already underway across the country.

Through my recent visits to Astra Zeneca and Bicycle Therapeutics in Cambridge, I have heard first-hand about some of the latest technologies for cancer diagnosis and treatment. As a government, we are committed to bringing cutting-edge innovations to our cancer patients.