British science has been pushing the boundaries of modern medicine for centuries. From the invention of the smallpox vaccine that drove its global eradication, to the discovery of penicillin that paved the way for treatment of infectious diseases.
In the last 100 years, our scientists have arguably delivered more ground-breaking innovation than ever before. For example, the first sequencing of the whole human genome 19 years ago ushered in a new era of modern medicine, offering unprecedented opportunities to not only cure, but tailor treatments to individual patients for once untreatable diseases. The government’s commitment to funding research, such as the recent announcement of a £200 million whole genome sequencing project, also aims to ensure we continue to lead a new wave of personalised innovations within the UK.
Our recent national survey of the UK public revealed, perhaps unsurprisingly, that they want the country to maintain this unparalleled record in delivering medical innovation. The results showed three-quarters (76%) strongly believe in the importance of the UK being a global leader in the life sciences industry. They also acknowledged the main reasons for the UK’s current reputation as a leader in healthcare innovation and medical science is down to the country’s research and development impact and the exceptional quality of our scientists.
The survey also exposed some awareness of our current limitations. Two-fifths (40%) said they believe it is harder for patients in the UK to access the latest cutting-edge treatments and medicines than in other major European countries, such as France and Germany.
It is our responsibility as industry leaders to harness our strengths together to ensure the UK continues to be a global beacon of life sciences innovation for the benefit of patients.
But how do we do this?
The way we discover new medicines is changing – our society has entered a ‘Golden Era’ of medicines, where innovative science and a data revolution have joined to treat and potentially cure diseases on a scale never seen before. This is one of the most high-tech industries in the world and it is our responsibility to maximise the opportunities it brings for the benefit of our patients. Therefore, if we are to be successful in leading the delivery of the next wave of technologically-powered medical innovations, all key stakeholders, including ourselves as part of the wider industry, must embark on an unprecedented era of collaboration.
The UK public expects this way of working from us all: in our survey, two-thirds (65%) stated their desire for greater collaboration between the NHS, government and our industry within healthcare.
But what does ‘collaboration’ truly mean?
Collaboration means stronger cooperation between the NHS, Government and our industry to ensure broader and accelerated access to the latest medical innovations, to achieve the better outcomes for patients the NHS Long Term Plan envisions and at least parity in access to medicines with our European neighbours.
For example, in the past 18 months, I have experienced two of the proudest milestones of my twenty-year career within the pharmaceutical industry, as Novartis has reached agreements to deliver new and innovative cell and gene therapies to UK patients. These landmark agreements were made possible through constructive dialogue and close collaboration with the NHS. As an industry, we must work towards making agreements such as these the norm, not the exception, so patients throughout the UK can benefit. We are acutely aware of the scale of this ambition, coming at a time when the Government and NHS are dealing with immense day-to-day challenges. Therefore, it is essential that our NHS is well-supported, to achieve levels of adoption and uptake of innovation seen in other European markets.
Secondly, to accelerate the Department of Health and Social Care’s vision of making the NHS a truly predictive, preventive and personalised health and care service, we must leverage our capabilities within data and digital. Our industry must play its part in facilitating increased health data sharing and collection, whilst upholding robust standards for patient data anonymity, to support a health service that embraces and leads in digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).
To this end, we are committed to partnering with the NHS and the health-tech ecosystem to accelerate such innovation. The Health Hub, our unique partnership with O2 Telefonica’s digital start-up accelerator, Wayra UK, was co-designed in partnership with the NHS. Through the Health Hub, we aim to empower and enable health-tech start-ups to develop and implement innovative solutions to address today’s healthcare challenges. Our industry must continue playing a leading role in driving further collaborations such as these, in order to deliver a sustainable health service, not just for today, but for future generations.
Thirdly, for our own industry, we must support greater cross-sector collaborations and increased partnership-based working, to catalyse the discovery of a new wave of technology-powered innovations. The use of digital technologies is widening the scope of possibility in medical research, making it more efficient and more intelligent. It is our ambition to use data and digital to reimagine medicine, and we support the drive to make the UK one of the best places in the world for the development and implementation of new health technologies.
Finally, to further reinforce the UK’s global role and influence within the life sciences sphere, it is imperative that our industry continues to build on our history of collaborative working alongside successive governments. The Life Sciences Industrial Strategy (LSIS) provides a blueprint for a bright future for the life sciences sector in the UK and our industry needs to work with the NHS and Government to secure and accelerate its implementation. This will foster a truly ‘Golden Era’ of medicines in the UK.
Haseeb Ahmad is managing director UK, Ireland & Nordics Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Country President Novartis UK, and President at the ABPI.
