The UK should set up a National Clinical Trials Agency to speed up the approval and take-up of new drug treatments, making them accessible to patients as quickly as possible.
This is the conclusion of a new report published today by a group of financiers, industrialists and researchers supported by UK trade group the BioIndustry Association.
The UK is already a global leader in biosciences, second only to the US, with 18 profitable bioscience companies and over 40 marketed products. The industry generates revenues of over £3 billion (€4.3bn) a year, and British biotechnology companies account for 43 per cent of all biotechnology drugs in advanced clinical trials in Europe.
However, the country's industry still lags a long way behind the US, and the BIGT believes strong measures are needed to maintain the country's European lead and to close the gap with America.
At the core of the proposals is the idea of leveraging the UK's National Health Service system, which provides a unique portal to gain access to the country's patient population. The proposed agency would not conduct trials itself, rather it would act as a national body that could provide advice to triallists, for example by identifying centres where particular patient groups are treated.
Other recommendations suggested by the BIGT include improvements to the UK's regulatory environment to ensure fast approval times and to accelerate the use of treatments in areas where there is major medical need, and new legislation to deal with animal extremism, which it says "threatens to block the development of important medicines."
Initiatives to encourage the creation of UK biotechnology companies with global scale and critical mass, such as boosting liquidity by changing pre-emption guidelines (that require companies to gain the approval of shareholders for issues of more than 5 per cent of share capital) and extending the Corporate Venturing Scheme, are also recommended in the report. Under the new proposals, companies could issue up to 20 per cent of their share capital without asking for shareholder consent.
One other proposal is to create a network of bioprocessing centres across the UK able to meet the growing global demand for manufacturing biological drugs.
The BIGT said that a Bioscience Leadership Council will be set up to oversee implementation of the recommendations and provide a forum for further initiatives. The Council will be lead by Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, and formerly chief executive of GlaxoWellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline).