BIA responds to the Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2023

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA), said:

“Life science spin-outs, start-ups and scale-ups are key drivers of the UK’s innovation-based economy and crucial for discovering and developing new medicines to save lives in the NHS. The UK is home to a third of life science startups founded in Europe since 2012 and companies like them are responsible for nearly two-thirds of medicines being developed globally.

“Today’s Autumn Statement by the Chancellor has announced a significant package of investment and support to help turbocharge this innovative industry in the UK.

“The Government’s £520 million investment in life sciences manufacturing will ensure more of those medicines being developed are also produced here, resulting in jobs across the UK and export revenues.

“Increased flexibility in the tax relief scheme for R&D intensive companies will make a meaningful difference to company growth, job creation and accelerating the delivery of new medicines to patients.

“The Chancellor’s strategic reforms to the pensions industry will unlock that opportunity to give British Citizens a better retirement income whilst creating rewarding jobs in growing UK life science companies. The British Business Bank is well placed to provide a dedicated fund so pensions can easily invest in innovative companies and the new Venture Capital Fellowship scheme, which BIA has helped develop, will grow our investment ecosystem to ensure pension funds now and in the future have a large pool of life science focused expert UK-based investors to call on.”