Marks & Clerk is delighted to see the publication of the UK government’s Life Sciences Vision which sets out a clear 10-year strategy to grow and build on the UK’s impressive life sciences expertise. As we know from the phenomenal contributions to the global COVID-19 response from all those scientists working in the UK, the expertise and innovation of the UK life sciences sector is able to rise to the most challenging situations – but to do so effectively requires collaboration between industry, academia, research agencies, and others.
Life Sciences Vision recognises this, as well as the fundamental need for access to funding, and sets out a range of plans which – we sincerely hope – will assist the UK life sciences sector in tackling some of the major healthcare issues facing us today and in years to come.
Seven key “missions” are set out in the plan:
- Accelerating the pace of studies into novel dementia treatment
- Enabling early diagnosis and treatments, including immune therapies such as cancer vaccines
- Sustaining the UK’s position in vaccine discovery, development and manufacturing
- Treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and its major risk factors, including obesity
- Reducing mortality and morbidity from respiratory disease in the UK and globally
- Addressing the underlying biology of ageing
- Increasing the understanding of mental health conditions, including work to redefine diseases and develop tools to address them
We are particularly pleased to note that the Vision also acknowledges the important role that intellectual property plays in assisting innovation, and transfer from the laboratory to the clinic. We at Marks & Clerk are proud to say that we already assist clients in all these fields with protecting and enforcing their intellectual property; our Life Sciences team can showcase expertise across all these fields. With our client base spanning industry, academia, and research agencies, among others, both we and our clients see daily the value of collaboration across the sector in generating innovative solutions to healthcare problems. We look forward to helping both existing and future clients rise to the challenges set out by the Life Sciences Vision.
