Summary: The British Business Bank will launch a new dedicated fund to support the growth of more UK-based cutting-edge health and life sciences companies by investing long-term patient capital in the sector.
- We want to make the UK the best place in the world to develop new medicines, technologies and diagnostics, keeping us at the forefront of this highly-skilled and highly-valuable sector.
- We will invest £200 million into a dedicated fund, to unlock £400 million of private sector investment into high potential health and life sciences companies. This is an important next step in the delivery of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and its commitment to support the growth of the sector, including making the UK the best place in the world to develop new therapeutics and technologies.
- This boost will create new high-quality, well-paid jobs across the whole country, as well as helping patients in the UK benefit from the latest ground-breaking treatments and care.
Background
- The UK has one of the most productive health and life sciences industries in the world. The sector is vital for the UK’s health and economy, contributing almost £74 billion a year and close to a quarter of a million jobs across the country. However, despite a history of great companies emerging from UK science, historically, scaling life sciences businesses in the UK has been challenging, in part, due to issues in accessing the right sort of finance to grow.
Our solution
- We will invest £200 million into a bespoke Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund, cementing the UK’s position as a leading nation in this highly advanced sector, and supporting the creation of new jobs across the whole country. The fund will encourage more long-term investment into the sector, helping to scale-up innovative life sciences companies.
Conservative record
- We’ve secured almost £3 billion to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of healthcare and pioneering treatment that will save lives. Our first Life Sciences Sector Deal saw over £1.5 billion secured for UK life sciences, establishing five centres of excellence and developing new treatments for cancer and rare diseases. Through the second sector deal, we invested £1.3 billion along with industry to keep the UK at the forefront of healthcare.
Q: Wouldn’t it be better to spend this money on more doctors and nurses?
We are already supporting NHS frontline services and staff. This is reflected in the extra £1.8 billion of Government funding, announced in August 2019 to boost NHS front line services and improve patient care, on top of the extra £33.9 billion the NHS will receive by 2023-24.
