BIA Challenges UK Government to Back World-Class Innovation

The BioIndustry Association (BIA) has challenged the Chancellor, George Osborne, and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, to put world-class innovation at the heart of government decision-making to ensure that areas of UK scientific excellence, such as the life sciences, can flourish and contribute to a sustainable economic recovery.

In early September US President Obama, proposed to expand and simplify the US R&E Tax Credit and to make it permanent to help encourage future productivity and growth, this follows earlier announcements of spending on scientific research. The BIA believes that the UK Government should ensure that scientific research in the UK is sufficiently funded and should support measures designed to help innovative companies exploit that research, such as R&D Tax Credits and the Patent Box.

Nigel Gaymond, BIA Chief Executive, commented: “Speaking today, Dr Cable acknowledged that the UK should focus on those areas in which it has already established a strong global lead, such as
the life sciences, where we have a recognised comparative advantage over other countries. This is a high value-added sector which can not only deliver improvements in healthcare but also deliver significant revenues for the exchequer once products are commercialised.

“If the UK is to rebalance the economy away from financial services, it is essential that research funding and incentives for investment in innovative industries, such as the life sciences, are supported,
especially if that support encourages the exploitation of research in the UK.”