The UK government has announced a substantial financial boost for the nation’s life sciences sector, providing over £74 million in combined government and industry funding to back cutting-edge projects
This investment is in place to support bold ideas, from utilising robotics in drug manufacturing to repurposing nuclear waste for cancer treatments, solidifying the UK’s position as a global leader in the field.
The investment is also a core element of the government’s industrial strategy, unlocking the potential of the country’s £100 billion life sciences sector, which is viewed as key to driving economic growth, improving health outcomes, and achieving national renewal.
The sciences sector currently creates an annual turnover of £150 billion and supports over 300,000 jobs across the UK.
£74 million for breakthrough research
The announcement highlighted that there will be £74 million in combined government and industry backing for research and development (R&D).
Over £54 million in government grants is being distributed across eight innovative R&D projects through the Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Programme (SMMIP).
This program is a joint effort between the government and industry, funded through the VPAG Investment Programme, and is further supported by more than £20 million in private sector backing. The SMMIP aims to make the production of medicine more efficient and environmentally sound.
Key projects receiving SMMIP funding include:
- Nuclear Medicine Recycling: An ambitious project to explore the conversion of spent fuel from Britain’s nuclear power stations into next-generation life-saving cancer radiotherapies.
- Factory Automation: Efforts led by major industry partners to integrate robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and automation into manufacturing processes to reduce waste and increase efficiency in British medicines factories.
- Anaesthetic Recycling: Scaling up technology to capture, recover, and reuse volatile anaesthetic gases, a process that could potentially save the NHS around £5 million annually and significantly reduce environmental impact.
- Advanced Manufacturing: Projects focused on transforming packaging sustainability, enhancing peptide production with a lower environmental footprint, and developing less wasteful cell-based therapies like CAR T-cells.
Antibiotic resistance
In a separate funding scheme, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been awarded £1 million from the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund.
This funding is dedicated to addressing the regulatory complexities surrounding ‘engineered bacteriophage products.’
Bacteriophages, viruses that specifically target and destroy bacteria, are highly promising for combating the global crisis of antibiotic-resistant infections, which currently cause over a million deaths annually.
The MHRA will collaborate with four other regulatory agencies and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to ensure that the regulatory framework for these innovative products is flexible enough to encourage safe innovation without creating unnecessary barriers.
Driving investment and sector growth
The funding announcement coincides with the start of London Life Sciences Week, a major event attracting investors, researchers, and policymakers. Ministers marked the week by hosting sector leaders at Downing Street to celebrate the UK’s robust investment environment.
Further initiatives showing the sector’s appeal were also revealed:
- Venture Capital: The British Business Bank has committed €30 million to Sofinnova’s new pan-European venture capital (VC) fund, which aims to back pioneering biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies, building on the bank’s strong history of supporting life science funds.
- London Cluster: Barts Health NHS Trust announced plans for the Barts Life Sciences Cluster in Whitechapel. This private-public partnership is expected to create more than £800 million in external investment, further cementing London’s status as a capital magnet for life sciences.
These announcements build on recent successes for the sciences sector, including significant investments from global firms such as BioNTech, Moderna, and GSK, demonstrating the UK’s commitment to creating an environment where innovation thrives and businesses flourish.
