This content has been developed and sponsored by Ipsen UK & Ireland.
At Ipsen UK, we welcome the new Labour government’s recognition of the UK life sciences industry as a key contributor to economic growth and call for further recognition of the significant role manufacturing plays in achieving this.
The contribution of the life sciences industry to the UK economy has been hotly discussed following the recent general election and is a critical sector to elevate the UK’s position as a global innovation leader. As Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi, recently noted, in 2021 the sector contributed £43.3bn to the UK economy in gross value added (GVA). Of this, pharmaceutical manufacturing was responsible for over £13bn.
Although this sounds positive, there are signs the UK is waning in its standing as a life sciences powerhouse. In 2010, the UK was the fourth highest net exporter of pharmaceutical products globally. And although the value of the UK’s exports has recovered slightly since 2021, in 2024 it remains only the eighth largest pharmaceutical net exporter in Europe, a position that must be improved to prevent a continued decrease in inward investment.
A sometimes-forgotten contributor to the potential of the UK life sciences industry is the importance of investment in manufacturing, particularly in the devolved nations. Labour’s life sciences plan commits to working with the devolved nations to boost investment, providing research opportunities and access to clinical trials. The plan, however, gives little attention to manufacturing and moving forward, we need a guaranteed government commitment that supports the life sciences manufacturing sector across the UK.
In 2023, Ipsen announced a £75 million investment in our Wrexham site – an end-to-end manufacturing site and neuroscience centre of excellence, following a £27 million investment in 2022 and reaffirming our commitment to the UK life sciences sector. In Wrexham alone, Ipsen employs over 500 colleagues, contributing to the local economy immensely. The Wrexham site, which is the largest of our sites in the UK, uses 100 per cent renewable energy across production and research and contributes to our commitment to net zero ambition by 2025.
We are committed to driving earlier access to treatment through a UK supply chain. Our bench-to-bedside approach spans across the whole value chain of the life sciences from research to manufacturing. This could provide an increased surety of supply in a competitive market and enable timely access to the medicines patients in the UK need. In Wrexham, important research and development, and manufacturing takes place to support the production of therapies that support patients in the UK and in over 90 other countries.
We believe more must be done for the UK to remain a competitive market for life sciences, and to ensure it does not fall behind in terms of patient access. Through smart inward investment, and government-backed access to increased investment in life sciences manufacturing, collectively we can strengthen the economy, create more jobs, and drive innovation that ultimately enables early access to innovative medicines for British patients.
EXT-UK-000160 | August 2024
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