House of Lords report says government lacks long-term thinking in life sciences, but leading academic says the problems run deeper

A just-published report from a House of Lord Select Committee has highlighted several critical issues facing the UK’s vital life sciences sector.

The report follows the news in recent weeks that Merck has scrapped a £1 billion investment in the UK, AstraZeneca has paused projects, and Eli Lilly has put a £279 million investment on hold, citing a need for "significant and sustainable change" in the UK life sciences environment.

Leading academic Ivan Wall, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Birmingham, says the report makes a vital contribution to the debate around the UK’s viability to realise its full potential in this key area, but notes its failure to address a critical underpinning element – the need to train a new generation for working in the sector.

The report says, “The current state of the life sciences sector in the UK is illustrative of a lack of long-term thinking and coordination in Government policy”.

Professor Wall responded; “It’s not enough to invest in buildings and equipment; we need future generations of trained, motivated, and educated young people to work in the sector.

“That means seriously assessing the need for investment in tools that improve productivity, and it means raising awareness of the many hundreds of career choices in life sciences. Finally, it means we need to excite and engage those young people to choose them.

“That may sound like a Herculean task, but there are already programmes in place that specifically target those key areas – awareness, engagement, and training” Professor Wall added.

“Skills are the engine of growth. When companies know they can tap into world-class talent, they invest, expand, and innovate. By building this pipeline, we’re not only boosting productivity at home but also making the UK the obvious choice for global life sciences companies looking to set up here.”

The report goes on to say; “If the UK loses its most successful science and technology sector, most valuable technology companies, and life sciences expertise, the consequences would be catastrophic. If the UK is to arrest its decline, leadership and coordinated action is needed”.

Critically, in its conclusions the report says; “The Government should ensure that the training it funds as part of the Industrial Strategy is commensurate with the skills needs identified by Skills England. It should accept that investment in the UK workforce will be an ongoing and growing requirement in this decade and is key to any technological productivity gains.

Ivan Wall commented; “It is great to see recognition that training is vital, as it makes no sense to encourage investment without in parallel growing a workforce that is educated, trained, and experienced.

“In recent years, training technologies have made significant ground. For example, in the life sciences sector, we can recreate real-world environments using advanced VR technology, such that students can learn valuable skills that it would be impractical, expensive, and disruptive to learn in real labs.

“This is also a huge productivity-booster, as there’s no limits on the number of times training can be undertaken, and there’s no need to travel. Moreover, since no expensive consumables are used in the process, wider adoption of such technology can also help institutions limit their environmental footprint, ensuring a more sustainable route for the next generation of life scientists

Professor Wall stresses the work done by Resilience, the UK’s Medicines Manufacturing Centre of Excellence, which uses VR to excite and engage young people to work in the sector.

Resilience is a two-year, £4.5 million programme, run by Innovate UK (part of DSIT). It is UK-wide, with partners including UCL and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Now into its second year, the programme has already delivered:

• 1,500 trainees attended industry relevant training events led by Resilience partners
• 15,000 students from across the UK participated in training and outreach activities through 170 events
• 75 future sector leaders from 23 organisations developed skills through leadership accelerator programmes
• 66% of future leaders across the leadership accelerator programme identified as female
• 45% of future leaders across the leadership accelerator programme came from BAME backgrounds

Professor Wall, who is also a co-director of Resilience, said: “These results as we move into the latter stages of the programme are overwhelmingly positive; the number of future medicine makers we’ve reached is astounding.

“Over a thousand trainees have developed skills that will allow them to thrive in their careers in the medicines manufacturing sector. On top of that, over 15,000 students have gained meaningful skills and knowledge for a potential career path, in which there are significant skills shortages.

Partner organisations across the UK delivering the programme include the University of Birmingham, University College London (UCL), Teesside University, Heriot-Watt University and Britest.

As well as bridging the skills gap, Resilience is helping the NHS to meet its long-term goal of achieving net zero. 25% of NHS emissions are in the supply chain, and VR will help the industry deliver net zero medicines manufacturing by reducing laboratory waste.

For more information about Resilience, please visit https://www.resilience-skills.com/.