CEO Update - 4 November 2024

Chancellor’s Autumn Budget prioritises life sciences as key driver of UK growth

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget placed life sciences at the forefront of the UK’s growth agenda, providing key support for R&D tax relief, medicines manufacturing, and sector-specific financing through the British Business Bank. Major commitments were made, including the £520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, £20.4 billion in R&D funding for 2025-26, and enhanced support for life sciences clusters. The Budget also lays the foundation for a transformation of our workforce with a reformed Growth and Skills Levy. NHS research is also backed with increased funding, reinforcing the UK’s commitment to life sciences as a growth driver.

Steve Bates OBE
CEO, BIA

It was good to see that, in what Chancellor Rachel Reeves described as a 'real show of confidence in what this government are doing', San Francisco-based developer Prologis will fund a £500 million 115,000 sq ft expansion to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

To learn more about the Budget and how it will affect the sector, please read Dr Martin Turner’s latest blog. Also, sign up for the upcoming webinar on what the Budget means for life sciences, taking place this Thursday, 7 November from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm GMT.

Future of UK life sciences regulation conference

We’re just two days away from our annual Future of UK Life Sciences Regulation Conference. With a stellar line-up, I’m especially looking forward to insights from Baroness Gillian Merron, the new Minister for Life Sciences and the MHRA top team, including June Raine. 

Mandatory levy on our industry averted thanks to BIA efforts

International negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity for a new global biodiversity fund ended at the weekend. The agreement is that payments from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to the new Cali fund will be voluntary.

This is a great outcome compared to a few weeks ago when the negotiation texts had various versions of a mandatory levy written into them. These would have imposed additional corporate taxes on UK-based businesses that wouldn’t have hit US or China-based companies. The  BIA has been following this issue for many years on behalf of members as it passed through various forums, mostly unnoticed, but since seeing the proposals on the table we have been engaged in detailed discussions with UK ministers, government officials and international partners.

We are still working through the complex details and implications of the deal agreed and will provide more details in the weeks ahead. 

The UK government welcomed the deal, describing it as a “breakthrough” and emphasizing the voluntary nature of the deal. Nature Minister Mary Creagh who attended the event said: “We have seen the many benefits of DSI, including identifying infectious diseases, predicting which plants will survive in a warming climate, or helping protect threatened species. More than half of the global economy is estimated to be dependent in some way on the ecosystem services that nature provides, so this latest deal is critical in supporting future growth and development.”

Over 196 governments – as well as businesses, researchers, Indigenous Peoples and local communities – have been involved in reaching the deal.

BIA led significant efforts over the past weeks to push for a voluntary mechanism instead of a mandatory levy that was proposed at the beginning of the negotiations. We are pleased that the UK government plans to implement the mechanism nationally as voluntary, giving UK businesses the option to contribute to what will be known as the Cali Fund if they use genetic information from nature. BIA will engage closely with the Government to develop this mechanism further, presenting an ideal opportunity for our diverse community to contribute its expertise. As we look ahead to COP17, it’s essential that the new mechanism for digital sequence information positions the UK at the cutting edge of research and innovation, driving the next wave of global progress in biotechnology

Looking ahead – Mansion House speech on pensions

With the Budget now in the public domain, press speculation has switched to the Mansion House speech, the next key date in the HM Treasury’s calendar is Thursday 14 November. As well as being a great curtain raiser to London Life Sciences Week, I’m closely watching stories that suggest pension reform will be at the heart of the event.

The key part is the quote from the HM Treasury spokesman saying:

Following this week’s Budget to fix the foundations of the UK economy, the Chancellor is focused on growth. Central to that are the next steps on pension reform, which will be set out in her Mansion House speech. This will unlock more private investment to fuel the government’s growth mission.

More to come on this…

Navigating biotech’s future: join BIA & BioCentury’s CEO and investor dialogue

 How will you drive your pipeline forward, leverage AI to accelerate drug development, and stand out to attract the right investors, partners, and talent in an evolving landscape? Join BIA and BioCentury’s second annual CEO and Investor Dialogue during London Life Sciences Week to find out how to navigate the current biotech landscape. Space is limited so register now to ensure you don’t miss out on this jewel in the crown event of a fabulous week. BIA members can take advantage of an exclusive discount, please email [email protected] to get the code.