CEO Update - 2 September 2024
It’s a back-to-school feel with a bang for me this week as the landscape of the Association’s work til Christmas comes into sharp focus.
Getting set for the Budget
We’ve published today detailed proposals for a sector-by-sector approach to analyse the effectiveness of R&D tax reliefs – so as to get the policy discussion out ahead of the UK government’s Budget which we know will be a significant event on 30 October.
Steve Bates OBE
CEO, BIA
R&D tax reliefs are just one part of the access to finance agenda for innovators and are a central core of our work in 2024. I’m looking forward to hearing more from the Capital Markets Industry Taskforce this Friday on how they see long-term reform to UK capital markets.
The reform of UK pensions to support productive growth sectors of the UK economy remains a core government priority and we’ll be highlighting the need during the political party conference season. We’ve already ensured the Treasury have our views on their consultation on the taxation of carried interest.
However, I see the pressing need month by month to turn this positive agenda into practical cash in the ground for companies if the UK is to gain the most benefit from the waves of innovation I see in abundance coming from our entrepreneurs and universities
Turning health into economic growth
It was really positive to see the planned investment into UK clinical trial infrastructure and medicine manufacturing as a result of the VPAG deal between the Department of Health and the ABPI being published last week.
It's reassuring to see the deal agreed ahead of the General election has been honoured by both sides giving stability and certainty for the UK drug pricing environment.
That’s useful at a time when the fruits of our sector are highly visible as the potential for novel therapeutics to make a real difference in obesity and dementia are becoming part of the public discourse. We’ll see if there is parliamentary or governmental ambition for the UK to become a leader in these or other areas in the weeks ahead.
One early positive step was to see the UK using a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited cell therapy on the NHS funded via the Innovative Medicines Fund to ensure early adoption of a truly novel therapy – with next-generation manufacturing happening in the UK.
Pandemics haven’t gone away
Internationally, we continue to contribute practical pandemic preparedness to the global health discussion. Whilst COVID has slid down the news agenda, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional and national efforts.
This colours the international policy discussion about novel vaccine development, patents and manufacturing preparedness which will dominate the WHO, WIPO and WTO discussions. We’ll ensure the perspective of innovative SMEs is brought to this debate – to inject some realism into what otherwise can become an esoteric discussion.
Bioeconomy beyond human health
Our growing community of deep biotech companies working beyond human health continue to thrive. The ecosystem was boosted by the launch of the new National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre last week. What’s interesting to me is how many companies pioneering in this space see the need for rapid development of standards and regulatory certainty as a key driver of the next stages of their growth – and the UK is a great place to be the crucible for much of that – with a strong heritage in science led regulation, a capable science bureaucracy in government and a commitment to innovate from the top levels of government.
Key jobs open
Campaigns to recruit the next UKRI chief executive, and Innovate UK Executive Chair, have opened for applications. These are hugely rewarding critical roles in the UK’s innovation ecosystem, helping drive cutting-edge discoveries and grow the economy – and you get to work with Patrick Vallance! Do take a look and consider applying.
