UK biotech industry reports progress and contacts with new coalition government

The chief executive of the UK Biotechnology Industry Association (BIA), Nigel Gaymond, reported on progress being made by the group, saying that 'one of the exciting offshoots of our work with the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) has been the increased working relationships we have had with sister organizations representing the extended gamut of the biomedically-oriented sector - pharmaceuticals, biotech, diagnostics and devices.'

This extended leverage, he noted, 'has helped the BIA to make some significant policy advances over the last 18 months via the OLS such as the Patent Box, the UKIIF and the Innovation Pass. There has been no doubt that a more unified voice has been viewed positively within political circles as well as with countless other external stakeholders. These burgeoning relationships will be even more important in the months ahead given the new coalition's priorities being focused so much on spending cuts to reduce the deficit.'

Over the last year, various discussions have been held with both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to ensure they were fully informed about current sectoral issues. For instance, the BIA held an Opinion Former Dinner with Ken Clarke, previously Shadow Business Minister and now Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, earlier this year and another such dinner will be held on June 15 with Xavier Rolet, the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange. Many of those conversations focused not only on the importance of ensuring that the OLS would be sustained in any new government, but also on the need to retain R&D Tax Credits and not to cut them in order to fund the tax cut for the largest companies. Commitments made in the Coalition's Programme for Government confirm that this campaign has been successful.