I was very pleased to accept the invitation from the BIA to attend tonight's dinner. What I want to do briefly this evening is review the competitive position of the UK biotechnology industry, and what we in Government and you can do, working together, to ensure its continues to be highly successful.
The Government believes that success in biotechnology is vital for the future competitiveness of the UK. The Prime Minister said at a BIA conference in November 2000 that he wishes to see the UK as the best place in Europe to carry out bioscience research and the best place for biotech firms to start and grow.
The UK biotechnology industry is, as Paul Drayson has made clear, very successful.
We lead in Europe by a clear margin, and globally we are second only to the USA. UK companies represent 46% of all European listed biotech companies, 63% of biotech market capitalisations, and over 50% of new European biotech drugs in late stage clinical trials are from the UK.
And the growth prospects of the industry are highly attractive. Industry estimates suggest that by 2005, the European biotech market could be worth over $100 billion. Revenues for European biotechnology companies in 2000 were up 38% over the previous year and this increase is expected to continue. The sectors which are considered the most likely to benefit from biotechnology, contributed some 11.4% of GDP in 1999.
The UK is well placed to seize the opportunities presented by this dramatic growth, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Almost every country in the world sees biotechnology as a key industry of the future and are making concerted efforts to expand their national industry.
For example, South Korea, which in the past has placed a successful emphasis on the imitation rather than invention of technology, has set itself the target of becoming a major global player in biotechnology over the next 10 years. It is doubling the funding specifically available for government-supported bioscience R and D from the current 5% of the Government R and D budget (£130 m) to 10% of the budget. It is also making some clever investments abroad, such as its Bio Venture incubation centre in Frankfurt and Bio Valley in San Diego.
I would like to focus for the rest of my speech on what the Government can, and should, do to help biotechnology.
The Government's first responsibility must be to ensure that public sector bioscience R&D in the UK continues as world class, and in the last two Government spending reviews the science budget has been substantially increased. This has included specific funding for the biosciences. From 2001 to 2004, the Science Budget will increase by 7% per year in real terms.
However, whilst we are pleased with the progress already made, we are always looking at ways of improving the funding of science in the UK. I am leading a second Science & Research cross-cutting review as part of the 2002 Spending Review. We will examine current funding mechanisms with a view to maximising the impact of available resources for science. This Review will report by the end of the financial year.
The science base is the first step, but the growth of the biotechnology industry is critically dependent on the innovative exploitation of our R&D, and the Government has allocated considerable sums of money to encourage Universities to support innovation.
We have encouraged the development of entrepreneurial skills through the Science Enterprise Challenge and provided universities with seed corn funding through the University Challenge.
At later stages, as businesses develop the SMART and LINK programmes give support, as do some of the specific biotechnology schemes that the DTI runs such as the Biotechnology Exploitation Platform Challenge that helps in the identification, protection and exploitation of IP. And there is the BIOWISE programme which encourages the wider use of biotechnology by manufacturing and service companies.
We are also working hard with the RDA's to support biotechnology clusters, and I was very pleased with the recent announcement on the creation of Genetic Knowledge Parks which is a DTI/DH collaboration. A success story since we published the Biotechnology Clusters report in 1999 has been the development of the London Biotechnology Cluster.
A new DTI programme called Harnessing Genomics is also being developed. This £25 million programme was announced in the 'Opportunity for All White Paper published last year. Particular areas identified for support through this programme include enhancing the level of financial and mentoring advice available to biotechnology businesses, particularly start-up and early stage businesses, by building on the existing successful Biotechnology Financial Advisory Service. Biomanufacturing and bioinformatics have also been identified as areas for support.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced, we will be introducing an R&D tax credit for medium and large companies. We have consulted industry and are now deciding on the best type of scheme and the specific amount of resources to be allocated to it.
As far as R&D soft loans are concerned, we are reviewing the various schemes such as SMART and LINK we have in the DTI to ensure that we concentrate on the best schemes, and that we fund them at the right level.
The future development of biotechnology is heavily dependant on the UK skills base and the Government has a crucial role to play in ensuring that we have the right one.
Sir Gareth Roberts is currently conducting a review of the supply of skilled scientists and engineers in the UK. We have also commissioned a specific review of the demand and supply of skills for the biotechnology sector over the next 10 years. This review will be completed by the end of this month and will feed its results into the Roberts' Review.
Finally, I would like to say a word about the regulatory environment. Our aim is to ensure that legislation is practical, proportionate, scientifically based and enforceable, thereby ensuring that human health, environmental and ethical concerns are met without stifling commercial research and innovation.
A supportive regulatory structure also can be a very significant factor in attracting inward investment to the UK.
Two recently prominent areas where regulations and procedures have been modified in response to changing circumstances involve animal testing and stem cells. Actions have been taken to ensure that the UK provides as favourable an environment as possible for the development of biotechnology.
Paul Drayson focussed on animal testing and the activities of animal activists in his speech. The violent and intimidatory activities of animal activists, which have impacted on many people here tonight, are intolerable in a free and democratic society such as our own, and the Government is determined to bring them to a halt.
It is essential that the UK has the infrastructure to support bioscience and biotechnology.
This includes animal laboratories and contract research organisations like HLS. If the animal activists had won the day over HLS then this could have produced a domino effect and the UK would have been left with no animal facilities to meet the safety and toxicological testing regulations.
A major step forward to curtail the activities of animal activists was the formation of a special Ministerial Group chaired by the Home Secretary. This Group catalysed a number of important actions.
In May 2001, legislation was introduced in the Criminal Justice and Police Act to give police the power to disperse protestors, and to prosecute those who threaten, harass, frighten or indeed terrorise not only those involved in animal research but also their families, their bankers and others.
Also, the police forces in England and Wales have improved their co-operation on the policing of demonstrations by animal rights extremists that cross police authority boundaries. A National Crime Squad dedicated to dealing with animal rights extremists has been established as well.
We have made considerable progress, but there is still more that needs to be done. In particular I believe that Government and industry need proactively to communicate to the public the benefits of medical research and the toughness of our regulatory system for animal experimentation. The Prime Minister renewed his support for the industry recently when he made an unequivocal statement of support for HLS in the House of Commons.
I would also like tonight to thank the BIA for the leadership it has shown on this issue, and say how much I welcome the strong stand being taken by the industry.
Another topic that has been very prominent over the past year and which has received a lot of media coverage and public attention is stem cells.
Last year saw a significant step forward in stem cell research in the UK through the pioneering decision by Parliament to extend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act to allow research into the therapeutic uses of embryonic stem cells.
Many of you here tonight, including much work by the BIA, were key to informing MPs and members of the House of Lords about the numerous potential applications and benefits of this research.
This triggered a high quality debate and led to the vote in favour of allowing the work to go ahead.
The approval of these regulations has put the UK in a leading position internationally and has been instrumental in attracting world-class scientists to the UK.
As well as taking action in the UK we are very pleased that we were able to play a leading role in getting the 6th Framework Programme to concentrate resources on biotechnology as one of eight key priorities. Over 5 years a total of well in excess of 1 billion Euros will go to biotech and in excess of 1 billion Euros will go to medical research. I would add my voice to that of Paul Drayson to urge British biotech companies to begin thinking about how they can access this money.
Throughout the history of Britain we have, by virtue of our innovative skills, often acquired an early lead in a new industry, and then failed to exploit our early success by building it up into a globally competitive industry. The computer industry was a classic example. The Government is determined that this won't happen to the biotechnology industry, and we want to work with you to create the best possible environment for the industry. We have in this country the key ingredients for success: a world-class science base, the best venture capital industry in Europe and experienced and entrepreneurial managers. Now you need to build rapidly on your early success, and in that vitally important job you will have, I can assure you, the full support of the Government.
Our success in the future will, of course, depend critically on the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs and I would like to end by congratulating a group of young new biotechnology entrepreneurs who are with us this evening. They are the winning team of BBSRC's Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme Competition. This year's winners, 'Green Revolutions', presented a business plan for a no-mow grass for use on golf courses. I would like to congratulate them on their success and invite them to come up and receive their award.
|
