The UK life sciences industry takes centre-stage in two of the new Labour government’s “Five Missions For National Renewal”: economic growth and creating an NHS fit for the future. Not only is the industry set to drive healthcare innovation, but it is also seen as a powerhouse for the economic growth needed to fund increased NHS spending.

Although the new government sees the life sciences industry as pivotal to its plans for the economy and healthcare, it remains unclear quite how it will achieve these goals. Seemingly to avoid any political blunders or hostages to fortune, Labour has detailed few measurable short-term or long-term goals so far. Instead, it mostly sets out general aspirations – many of which appear to be repackaged ideas from the previous government and review papers. 

Whilst Labour is not seizing the opportunity to use its 180-seat majority to radically change the life sciences sector, its plans appear reassuringly straightforward and coherent. Indeed, the arrival of the new government has been publicly welcomed by industry members, including the ABPI, the BioIndustry Association, Chemical Industries Association and Campaign for Science and Engineering.  

The People 

Labour’s plans for the life sciences industry will be implemented by three key appointments to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Sir Patrick Vallance 

Sir Patrick Vallance is the new Minister for State for Science, Research and Innovation, rather than the  former shadow minister Chi Onwurah MP. 

The appointment of a life sciences industry veteran is notable. Vallance was head of Research and Development at GSK for six years, before serving as the Conservative government’s Chief Scientific Advisor between 2018 and 2023. In this role he produced the Pro-Innovation Regulation of Technologies Review: Digital Technologies.  In particular, Vallance’s review recommended encouraging innovation by the flexible regulation of emerging technologies. The review also suggested seeking international regulatory harmonisation once an emerging technology is more established. 

In his first week on the job as Science Minister, Vallance met with his counterparts at the G7 Science and Technology Ministerial in Bologna. At the Ministerial, Vallance emphasised the government’s plans to make the UK a “reliable partner” in the international scientific community. 

Peter Kyle MP 

Peter Kyle MP is Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, the most senior position in DSIT. 

Although Kyle does not have a scientific background, he served as shadow Science Secretary from September 2023. In that role, he actively participated in the on-going discussion of AI regulation. Kyle endorsed using AI to improve the NHS and said that Labour would compel technology businesses to share AI test data with the government. During his time as shadow Science Secretary, he also met with key stakeholders from both business (including Microsoft, OpenAi, Google, and Meta) and the US government.

Feryal Clark MP 

Feryal Clark MP is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, working directly under Peter Kyle MP at the DSIT. 

Clark has a strong scientific background in academia, the healthcare sector and Parliament. At university, she studied biomedical science and bioinformatics. She then worked in the NHS for six years. Following her election as MP in 2019, Clark highlighted the gap in access to primary healthcare in her first speech to the House of Commons. Whilst in opposition, Clark served as Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety and Shadow Minister for Health. 

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Publishers’ Licensing Service have both welcomed Clark to her new role, where her responsibilities include:

• the IPO;
• the AI Safety Institute;
• AI transparency, ethics, regulation, and opportunities;
• digital identity policy; and
• the Copyright Tribunal. 

The Policies 

1.R&D investment 

A headline announcement is the implementation of 10-year budgets for key R&D institutions, including the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This considerable departure from the previous three to five-year budgets is intended to attract long-term investment. The stability provided by longer funding cycles may be particularly attractive for drug developers, who typically spend 10 to 15 years bringing a drug to market. However, the budgets themselves remain unknown. It is similarly unclear whether the budgets will take the form of minimum spending commitments or immovable budgets. 

The new government has also committed to protecting the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts. So far, these tax-efficient incentives have not proven to be sufficient to drive investment to the life sciences industry: the equity finance raised by the industry fell by 54% from 2021 to 2022.

The new government’s plans for R&D also include:

• increasing the number of university spinouts by introducing a new ‘founder-track’ option (first proposed in the Spin-out Review), whereby universities take a share of equity at or below 10%;  
• increasing the annual R&D expenditure by £10 billion per year; and 
• maintaining the current rates of R&D tax credits.

2. World-leading clinical trials 

The new government aims to address industry concerns about the decline in UK clinical trials: ABPI data shows that the number of trials dropped by 41% between 2017 and 2021. 

Labour considers that there is an opportunity to leverage the NHS’ strengths to make the UK a world leader in clinical trials, by: 

• speeding up trial recruitment using the NHS app;
• allowing patients to access clinical trials regardless of where they reside in the UK; and 
• improving the diversity of trial participants, so that treatments are tested on populations reflecting those who need them. 

3. Business-friendly regulation 

Labour also has an agenda to tackle the efflux of life sciences companies from the UK. Nearly 46% of healthtech companies have removed products from the UK market due to regulatory uncertainty.  

Peter Kyle acknowledged the nuances in creating a pro-innovation regulatory framework, saying that it “is essential to build safety and public trust, but decisions need to be made quickly”. To strike this balance, Labour has pledged faster regulatory approval for new technology and medicines by establishing a new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO). The RIO will be responsible for: 

• holding regulators accountable for delays which stifle innovation;
• setting and monitoring targets for regulatory approval timelines;
• helping regulators to update regulation; and
• advising regulators on the areas for prioritisation. 

4. Attracting top talent 

There have been growing concerns within the life sciences industry about the ability of the UK to attract global life sciences talent. In 2023, the Conservative government estimated that the UK needs 380,000 more researchers by 2027. However, Cancer Research UK has said that this is not possible with domestic talent alone. Some consider that this problem may have been exacerbated by the announcement of the former Home Secretary’s five-point plan to reduce immigration in December 2023.

Labour plans to plug this hole by creating 100,000 jobs in the life sciences sector by 2030 and by overhauling the current immigration system. The new government will remove the points-based immigration system and direct the Migration Advisory Committee to prioritise sectors for Labour’s industrial strategy.

Labour has not announced any reforms to the visa process, despite pleas from the Wellcome Trust, Royal Society and Physiology Society to do so. But this may change: speaking to BBC Radio 4 in his new ministerial role, Sir Patrick Vallance suggested relaxing the visa rules for researchers seeking work in the UK. 

5. Infrastructure for innovation 

Currently, the growth of the UK life sciences industry is viewed by some to be impeded by an obstructive planning system.  The new government now wants to replicate the success of the ‘golden triangle' life sciences cluster (in London, Oxford and Cambridge) across the UK.   To achieve this, the Labour manifesto says it will encourage the construction of life sciences infrastructure by implementing practical measures:

• planning reform which creates a presumption in favour of approving new laboratories;
• removing planning barriers to new data centres;
• bringing laboratory clusters within the scope of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (which have a streamlined consent process); and
• updating planning policy to allow house building so that scientists can relocate near laboratories.

6. Phasing out animal testing 

Views on animal testing in the life sciences sector are mixed. Each year, 2.7 million animals are used for research in the UK life sciences industry. The ABPI’s website contains a statement acknowledging that humane animal research helps scientists to understand disease processes and ensures safe medicines.  Conversely, the BMJ recently published an opinion by the Safer Medicines Trust UK highlighting novel human biology alternatives to animal testing, including organs-on-chips, AI, computer modelling, and virtual humans. Since 2023, the US has removed the requirement for drugs to undergo animal testing before being given to participants in human trials. 

Labour has pledged to phase out the testing of dogs, minipigs and rabbits, including for medical products. Phasing out animal testing aligns with the UKRI’s existing aspiration to exclusively use non-animal technologies by 2030, but it does not have any specific roadmaps for dogs, rabbits or minipigs. Human biology alternatives to testing on dogs seems sensible: 2483 of 2885 procedures on dogs were done for human medicines in 2022. But, it perhaps makes less sense to require human biology approaches for rabbits and minipigs, where most procedures investigate animal medicine and animal feed. 

7. Focus on diagnosis 

Labour’s manifesto strongly emphasises the importance of early diagnosis for the delivery of its overarching mission to build a health service which is fit for the future. To achieve earlier diagnoses, Labour have promised a ‘Fit For the Future’ fund to double the number of CT and MRI scanners. 

This news will be welcomed by the UK diagnostic imaging market, as well as the academic community which overwhelmingly agrees with the principal of early diagnosis. 

8. Ambiguity on AI 

Labour repeatedly emphasised AI in its manifesto and its life sciences plan, saying that the technology has “huge potential for life sciences”. Rachel Reeves highlighted AI as a key area for growth before becoming Chancellor when she delivered the Mais Lecture in March this year. At the recent G7 Science and Technology Ministerial, Sir Patrick Vallance also committed the UK to promoting the responsible innovation of AI within the field of biotechnology.  

Comments in Labour’s manifesto suggest it will attempt to implement the Johnson government’s ten-year plan to make the UK a global AI ‘superpower’. Although Labour’s manifesto provides little detail, it does promise the introduction of binding regulation to allow regulators to keep pace with the rapid development of AI technologies. But, the widely trailed AI Bill was curiously absent from the 2024 King’s Speech. The government’s silence on the AI Bill is perhaps a reassuring acknowledgement of Labour’s understanding that AI is a deeply political issue. Presumably, the new government is still deliberating whether to align UK legislation with the EU’s AI Act or whether it will seize the commercial opportunity to provide a different regulatory framework for the technology.

9. Data for scientific development 

Central to Labour’s strategy to grow the UK life sciences industry is its announcement of the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. Despite the similar name, Labour’s new bill is not simply a repackaged version of the previous government’s planned Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The new government’s bill attempts to encourage interdisciplinary scientific research by allowing scientists to get broad consent for wide areas of scientific research. This approach differs from the old government’s bill, which instead focussed on taking advantage of the perceived post-Brexit opportunity to create a UK-oriented data rights regime. 

Labour’s strategy to modernise the use of data for scientific research also includes:

• establishing a National Data Library to centralise research efforts;
• creating a single access point for researchers to use data from all genomic data sets (including the UK BioBank, NIHR Bioresource, Genomics England and Our Future Health);
• improving researchers’ ability to access data in the NHS app; and 
• delivering the FAIR Data Accelerator pilot to develop methods to help researchers make data more accessible and usable. 

10. Stability at the IPO

IP policies do not feature prominently in Labour’s discussions on life sciences – which is perhaps unsurprising as IP is rarely a vote winner. Labour’s life sciences plan merely mentions IP in the context of a commitment to innovation, aside from confirming that it will maintain the patent box regime. But no news may be good news for IP policy, particularly following the disruptions caused by Brexit and the UK's fluctuating stance on the Unified Patent Court. 

Whilst a period of stability in IP policy may be welcomed by many practitioners, the ABPI has asked the government to continue advocating for international IP frameworks. There may also be an opportunity to bolster the life sciences sector by encouraging international patent protection, as 34% of UK patent families are currently UK-only. 

Read more: Labour’s manifesto; Labour’s plans for the life sciences sector; the King’s Speech briefing on Science, Technology and Innovation.