UK report on life sciences calls for greater freedoms for EU member states

A new UK report condemns the European Union’s “anti-biotech legislation” which is damaging Europe’s bioscience economy.

George Freeman MP, the UK government advisor on life sciences between 2011 and 2013, has prepared the Fresh Start Project report on The EU impact on the UK Life Science sector. The report says: “The growing hostility of the EU to biotech, reflected in an increasing tide of ‘anti-biotech’ legislation, is having a damaging effect on the EU Bioscience economy, and risks condemning the EU – and by extension the UK – to the global slow lane in biotechnology.”

It adds: “Recent trends have led to growing concerns from academic researchers, companies and medical charities that the EU is in danger of becoming an increasingly unattractive territory for the new technologies and disciplines such as stem cell and regenerative tissue science, genomics and genetic epidemiology and the use of clinical data in large scale ‘BigData’ studies to help drive Stratified and Personalised Medicine.”