I would like to welcome you all to this dinner. It is a pleasure to meet
so many of the international leaders of the biotech industry.
I would like to start by giving a brief update on the UK
biotechnology sector. This sector has continued to grow in the UK, and a
recent survey we commissioned shows that we now have around 480
companies, whose primary activity is biotechnology. This represents an
increase of 85 companies since the equivalent survey a year ago. Like
many other countries, the UK sector has suffered from the slowdown in
the availability of funding. However I was pleased that the UK accounted
for 41% of all European capital raised in 2002. UK companies also
account for 42% of European market capitalisation. The whole UK
biotechnology sector raised over $528 million in 2002 and 2002 was the
second best year ever for private equity.
My view of the sector is optimistic because the global sector is
still demonstrating the spirit of innovation it needs to succeed. There
are plenty of exciting developments in science and great progress in the
fight against illness and disease. The shape of those benefits we can
also now begin to see:
- the development of ‘personalised medicines’ using
pharmacogenomic techniques
- the use of bioinformatics for analysing the increasing amount of
biological information now becoming available, and advances in
genomics, could also lead to breakthroughs in the fight against
diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinsons and cancer
The UK has organised two particularly significant seminars this week,
which I hope you will be able to attend. One of these is on
neurodegeneration, and the other is on proteomics.
Another reason for my optimism is that the sector continues to
attract Government support at both a national and regional level. The UK
government continues to regard biotechnology as a high priority and Tony
Blair has many times spoken about his interest in our sector. To show
our commitment, we have recently established a Bioscience Innovation and
Growth Team, including leading industrialists and academics. The aim of
the Team is to identify any barriers that could significantly hold back
the growth of the biosciences in the UK and make recommendations to how
these obstacles can be overcome.
Another encouraging feature of the biotech sector is the increasing
number of cross-national partnerships being developed. We have taken a
particular initiative to link UK companies and universities with
companies and universities in Texas and we see Bio2003, with the largest
attendance of any global biotech event, as the ideal venue for
biopartnering discussions. You will find UK companies very willing to
discuss partnering arrangements and I would urge you to take advantage
of this opportunity, and to come and visit the UK Pavilion at the
Exhibition Hall.
In the UK we have taken the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of
the discovery of the structure of DNA to celebrate not only the original
brilliant discovery, but also the golden age of British bioscience which
followed it, the successful growth of the UK Biotechnology industry and
the international scientific cooperation which, over the last 50 years,
has developed molecular biology to the point where it has penetrated the
whole of biology. The DNA 50 celebrations this year have also increased
the visibility of the sector. People are realising how industry is
turning the remarkable scientific developments of the last 50 years into
treatments for previously incurable diseases. So this is a good time I
believe to raise the level of communication and engagement with the
public.
I hope that you will all enjoy tonight’s dinner, and I would like
to thank the BioIndustry Association and our sponsors for organising the
event. I also hope you all have a very successful Bio2003, and that
tonight’s dinner is an enjoyable start to a productive week.
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