Industry hails Labour’s strategy for life sciences sector

Life sciences industry experts have welcomed the Labour Party’s willingness to engage with stakeholders on its investment strategy for the sector. On Tuesday, the party proposed to boost investment in research and development by £10bn a year if it comes to power later this year. Proposals include establishing a regulatory innovation office to hold regulators accountable for delays in bringing innovations to the UK; a plan to unlock pension funds for investment in innovative businesses; replacing the three-year budgets with 10-year budgets for institutions such as UK Research & Innovation; and ensuring effective use of patient data within the NHS by providing a single access point for researchers to use data from all genomic resources. Louise Ward, real estate partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said: “The fact that the Labour Party has invested time and resources into producing a life sciences plan is welcome news for the sector, which currently benefits from well-publicised government backing. Having the certainty that this will continue is a shot in the arm for investors, developers, and occupiers.”  Charles Walford, property director and head of life sciences at Stanhope, said: “With assets such as the NHS, leading universities and research institutes, it is the hope that this investment will keep the UK ahead of global competitors and boost economic growth.” Sally Basker, chief executive of Exeter Science Park, added: “It looks like a very strategic decision that will have a long-term impact on our nation’s capabilities, encourage investment across the whole of the country and position us internationally. It will allow people to make serious investments into new buildings and laboratories.” More capacity, more capability Industry leaders agree that the Labour Party’s proposed investment will boost life sciences-related real estate requirements across the UK. This ranges from new analytical laboratories that exploit data and use artificial intelligence and other means, to laboratories for new drug discovery and other medical advancements. James Sheppard, managing director for UK and Ireland at Kadans, said: “We continue to see strong demand from companies to develop new and exciting science at Canary Wharf, Glasgow, Manchester and other Kadans ecosystems. “The recommendations which aim to unlock further investment, create processes to hold regulators and government accountable and set longer term budgets to support the growth of the industry could make a meaningful difference to our tenants across the UK.” Labour is proposing to bring laboratory clusters within the scope of the nationally significant infrastructure regime in England and to create new national development management policies that tilt the planning system in favour of new lab space.  Michael Aston, head of UK life sciences at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “It’s welcome that Labour acknowledges that the planning system is unduly limiting the real estate sector’s responsiveness to biopharma’s demand for lab space. It will, however, be all in the implementation as to how effective the proposals are in expediting delivery of new laboratories and science campuses.” Kath Mackay, chief scientific officer at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Ensuring that the sector receives the sustained investment that it needs to continue driving advances in drug discovery, diagnostics, medical treatments and more is vital. “It’s positive to see that Labour is acknowledging this with a long-term commitment that has the potential to make a real impact on the sector’s ability to deliver. Not to be overlooked as well are the party’s plans to retain the current system for research and development tax credits, which are a real lifeline for science and tech innovators.” Emma Goodford, head of life sciences and innovation at Knight Frank, echoed the views, adding that policies which build on the supportive work of the previous political administration are “crucial”. Goodford said: “Clearly, bioscience and pharma are an important economic generator. Does a 10-year programme for UK Research & Innovation deliver benefit? In a fast-moving innovation sector, it might strangle opportunity and potential in later years.” Boosting global competitiveness Alongside longer-term funding commitments, industry experts have also called on the Labour Party to address the wider problems facing the sector, including the continued backlog in the planning system, withdrawal of infrastructure schemes and the inability to recruit the best talent in the face of changing immigration policy.  Goodford said: “The industry also needs more capability in venture funding, which is driving so much of the sector’s early-stage innovation. As this grows, the UK must aim to retain it for its potential economic and health value. It struggles to do this at the moment and US venture and private equity dominates. “This is the part of the sector where we could embed growth; not necessarily at pharma level where the impending patent cliff edge is spurring merger and acquisition activity, but certainly we can do more to support the growth of early-stage companies.” Matt Smith, head of science and technology agency at DTRE, agreed that pharmaceuticals are “just one element” of the UK’s science and technology landscape and more needs to be done to support the start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. “Only when these latest plans are joined up with Labour’s earlier proposals that they would speed up the building of critical infrastructure can we unlock the specialised real estate required to house our most innovative businesses,” said Smith.  Stewart Deering, chief executive at Reef Group, said: “If the government signals that it is committed to this sector, we can build on the success we have seen from UK-based start-ups and provide confidence to major businesses and financial institutions that they should invest heavily in the UK and expand their footprint here.” Matt Lee, head of science and technology at Carter Jonas, said: “A supportive environment that actively encourages VC investment is vital for the growth of home-grown companies in this sector and for the UK’s ability to attract global talent. This can only be achieved through active engagement and a focused approach.” Image © ADAM VAUGHAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock