This week, the Government released their industrial strategy, ‘Invest 2035’, which outlines their plans to drive economic growth over the next ten years.
We are pleased to see that the UK life sciences sector has been named as one of the eight key growth sectors which will be prioritised. Specifically, the key focus of the strategy will be on removing barriers to growth and increasing investment in the listed high growth sectors.
It also recognises that economic performance is still skewed too heavily towards London and the South East. There is huge potential for an economic boom in the regions outside of the capital and surrounding areas if managed correctly, such as continuing to grow clusters successfully.
BIVDA have members across the UK. While there is a heavy focus in Medtech in the so-called “Golden Triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, there are areas of growth and innovation across the UK. We welcome this approach.
We await the individual sector plans, which are set to be published alongside the Spending Review in 2025, and will make a strong case for increased investment in diagnostics alongside plans for better adoption and improving the regulatory environment.
The strategy states that the new Regulatory Innovation Office will make the UK the ‘best place in the world to innovate’ and will speed up ‘regulatory decisions for new technologies.’ You can read more about the Office in a separate article.
You can read the full plan here.
The Government have also released a consultation alongside the strategy and are seeking views on their plans. They welcome evidence, analysis and policy suggestions. You can find the consultation here.
