UK has thriving service and supply sector, report shows

The UK has a thriving service and supply sector for medicines discovery, according to a new report released this week.

The report, by Medicines Discovery Catapult and the BioIndustry Association (BIA) reveals a thriving service and supply sector for the UK in addition to its R&D biotechs. It also highlights two breakthrough technologies that could potentially influence the future of medicines discovery and maintain the UK’s global competitiveness.

According the report, UK service and supply companies account for 80% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within medicines discovery, and 90% of employment.

Data indicates that the UK’s medicines discovery market is a large and diverse sector that is continuously growing. More so, the country’s core biopharma sector saw increased turnover by £3.3 billion and create 47 new businesses between 2016 and 2017.

Some key insights from the report show that:

• 300 companies are focussed on discovering potential new medicines; 70% are working in the areas of cancer, anti-infectives and the central nervous system.
• 1,200 companies provide vital services and supplies.
• Despite their size, SMEs are a critical source of innovation for new medicines; 60% have fewer than five staff and 80% have fewer than 20 people within the company.

In addition, the BIA’s benchmarking report shows that by 2025 the UK could support an addition 33,000 biotech jobs and 50 biotech companies at early clinical stage.

Companies working within the service and supply sector are key to maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness in a sector that contributes over £30 billion in UK GDP.

Companies including contract research organisations (CROs), advisory services and consultants enable the sector to deliver discovery projects that are more predictive and improve R&D productivity, thereby attracting industry investment into R&D in the UK.

Two technologies revealed in the report as future opportunities are artificial intelligence (AI) and complex cell models (CCMs).

The report reveals that the medicines discovery community view AI as integral to improving medicines discovery decision making.

For instance, the report shows that:

· 90% of medicines discovery companies confirmed a need for AI.

· 75% of current AI spend is on data access, curation and data labelling

· AI budgets are growing, but the industry is calling for benchmarks and comparisons between AI systems.

· Small companies prefer to sell their assets; large companies prefer embarking on partnerships.

The report also shows that CCMs have great potential to make preclinical research more likely to predict a drug’s effects in clinical trials.

Chris Molloy, chief executive officer of Medicines Discovery Catapult, said: “The UK should be proud of the vibrancy of its medicines discovery community and thriving service and supply sector. The UK cannot conduct medicines discovery without access to this diverse range of skills, technologies and expertise. It is vital that we maintain our global competitiveness and R&D services can be a major sector driving international trade. The report’s findings help shape our strategy at MDC and we will continue to strengthen R&D productivity to create new medicines for patients.”

Steve Bates OBE, chief executive officer of BioIndustry, added: “This report shines a light on a key but often overlooked group of companies vital to the life science ecosystem in the UK. Many virtual and small biotechs, as well as established global pharma players, rely on the expertise and capability of UK service providers. As such the economic benefit in jobs and growth in UK life science, especially outside the South East of England, is often delivered via sub-contracting and the provision of services. It’s vitally important policy makers understand this network and supply chain as we work together to deliver the UK life science industrial strategy.”