With the anchor now securely lodged in 2021, what’s on the horizon for the life sciences industry and for healthcare in the UK? Certainly for healthcare, the tide seems to be turning again. As the team at Wilmington outlines on page 16, the government is proposing some of the most important reforms for health and social care in nearly a decade, which plan a shift away from competition towards collaborative working, but also seek to hand more power to ministers to intervene in decisions on healthcare services.

Elsewhere, Dr Kath MacKay looks into three areas for development in the UK life sciences sector in the years ahead: the end of malaria, the commercial appeal of science and quantum computing and health data (p18), while on page 22 Gilead’s Frances Luff emphasises the importance of the NICE methods review, and the opportunity it presents for enhancing how the value of innovative therapies is measured in today’s landscape.

HIV is an area which clearly showcases how innovative R&D can drastically improve the outlook for patients, although, as Gilead’s Geraldine Reil reminds us, despite the incredible advances in treatment seen in the decades since the virus emerged in the 1980s, the fight is still far from over (p32). For one, far too many people with HIV still live in secrecy or shame, she says, which has a huge impact on access to health services and quality of life. On page 34, Samantha Dawson gives a frank and honest insight into living with HIV, and the challenges she has faced.

Also of note, the 2021 PharmaTimes Marketer of the Year and Communications Awards have now launched, with the Sales Awards to closely follow, while entry to the PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year closes on April 16, and that to Clinical Researcher of the Year, the Americas, on May 14 (more information at www.pharmatimes.com/competitions). If you’re thinking of entering the 2021 Patient Partnership Index, entry to that also closes on May 14 (www.patientpartnershipindex.co.uk/enter).

I hope you enjoy the issue!

IN THE PIPELINE  

MAY: It’s a virtual world – digital communications  and healthcare, where can we go from here?
Also back for 2021: our Women in Healthcare Q&As.

JUNE: Taking the lead. Is pharma’s management culture standing in the way of success?

You can help shape these articles. For more information,  please email Anna Yeardley anna.yeardley@pharmatimes.com