Positive biotech outlook in UK

SAN FRANCISCO—The UK government will embrace an advisory committee's ambitious recommendations for boosting public financing and incentives for biotechnology development, science minister David Sainsbury said here Sunday (June 6) at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) annual convention. Sainsbury praised the Biotechnology Innovation and Growth Team (BIGT) Report, which called for government investment in research to maintain the country's dominance in European biotechnology. The Bioindustry Association, the Department of Health, and the Department of Trade and Industry jointly produced the report in November, and a government working group promised to release a list of practical initiatives for implementing the BIGT recommendations. Those initiatives are set for release Monday (June 7). "The report had some very intriguing recommendations," Sainsbury told The Scientist. "The government's response is to be pretty positive." In particular, the government plans to create a Biosciences Futures Forum to monitor new scientific discoveries and identify areas of potential regulation so agencies can keep pace with commercial developments, Sainsbury said. "Regulation is, of course, an existing area of strength in the UK." In his speech at BIO, Sainsbury also discussed Knowledge Transfer Networks, which will provide information on technological developments, potential collaborative partners, and business resources. Sainsbury helped launch the £150 million, 3-year program in May by requesting proposals for these networks. Britain houses about 400 biotechnology businesses, which provide jobs for more than 25,000 people. The sector is Europe's biggest, with revenues of over £3 billion, and is second to the United States in global terms. Still, the country needs to attract additional private investment, Sainsbury said. "We have a strong science base," he told The Scientist, "but we're not so good at knowledge transfer and commercializing [discoveries]." Sainsbury's public comments were part of a BIO forum of high-level European and Asian science and technology representatives. Most ministers outlined their own governments' programs to boost biotechnology. France may be one of the most ambitious, says Jim Ryan, director of BioResearch Ireland. The country provides 8 years of tax relief to new biotechnology companies, as well as tax exemptions for foreign executives assigned to France. "The French probably have the best program," Ryan said. In the United States, municipalities and state governments both offer tax incentives and biotechnology investment programs. Government investment also attracts scientists and entrepreneurs from all over the world. Nevertheless, Sainsbury insisted that the strong UK science base helps the country compete in what he termed the international "battle for talent." "We've moved away from a brain drain to a brain gain," Sainsbury told The Scientist. The Department of Trade and Industry is also focusing on stem cell research, he said. "The UK is attracting much interest as a location for stem cell research, thanks to our well thought-out regulation." The growth in British biotech is also a boon to neighboring countries, said David McConnell, a professor at Trinity College Dublin and member of the Irish Council of Science, Technology, and Innovation. "We are almost a single academic unit," McConnell added. Despite the strong base and ambitious government programs in the United Kingdom, biotechnology entrepreneurs have experienced the shock of a worldwide recession and slowdown in biotech funding. "Since 2001, funding has been difficult," said Raymond Fisher, commercial director of Peakdale Molecular, a contract chemistry company based in Chapel-en-le-Firth, Derbyshire. "It's been bad for business."

Positive biotech outlook in UK

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