UK innovation plans threatened by lack of qualified staff

The UK pharmaceutical industry has expressed concerns over the government's plan to encourage a 10-year investment framework in r&d set out in the paper Science and Innovation: Working towards a ten-year investment framework.

Although the sector welcomes the plans, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) noted in its response to the government paper, that pharmaceutical companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit suitably qualified staff in the UK.

Another key concern remains the activity of animal extremists, and the ABPI response highlights the importance of the introduction of specific legislation to deal with this issue.

'We very much share the government's vision of a science- and innovation-led economy, but there are several factors that give us concerns that it may not be possible to realise its aspirations,' said Dr Philip Wright, director of science and technology at the ABPI. 'The industry is operating on a worldwide scale - even emerging biotech companies often operate on the global stage - and it is up to the government to sustain and enhance a competitive environment for pharmaceutical R&D.'

The organisation points out that the Government's intention to create a competitive environment to sup-port science and innovation needs more than funding universities and incentives for investment - although these are welcome. It also depends on three factors:

• Improving access to skills and knowledge

• Maintaining a good regulatory environment

• Providing an attractive marketplace

In particular, the ABPI's response notes that its members are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit certain types of graduates and skills within the UK, especially those with good chemistry degrees, as well as in vivo pharmacologists. Industry is playing its part in tackling these concerns in the short to medium term, but the government must find ways of giving students appropriate incentives to take science degree courses, it says.

By 2015, the ABPI would welcome the establishment of a technical or vocational sector - the UK is one of the few countries that does not have technical higher education facilities.