ABPI welcomes Budget boost for UK-based research
The boost given to research and development in the Budget has been welcomed by the research-based pharmaceutical industry in the UK.
The boost given to research and development in the Budget has been welcomed by the research-based pharmaceutical industry in the UK.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) commended the Budget's focus on investment in science, including an additional £100m for partnerships between academia and industry. The pharmaceutical industry works on 330 collaborative ventures with academia in the UK and trains 670 PhD students. And an above-inflation rise in the science budget - if translated into lab research - will clearly be welcome.
'We welcome any steps that can boost the UK's bioscience-based industry in the face of global competition,' said ABPI director general Dr Richard Barker.
'The reduced rate of Corporation Tax will also be a modest but welcome step in the right direction in support of high technology biomanufacturing, where tax breaks in other countries have had an adverse effect on the UK's global position. However, capital allowances are also significant and we will need to study the net effect.'
The UK-based pharmaceutical industry spends some £9m a day on researching new and innovative medicines, and the Chancellor's moves to reinforce UK biopharmaceutical r&d can only help the UK in its bid to attract more of this highly skilled work, Dr Barker added.