The current state of the UK’s life sciences sector looks less like a managed decline and more like an act of profound economic self-harm. A series of government policies and a lack of decisive action are actively driving away investment, leading many to question if the UK is willfully destroying one of its most prized national assets.
The evidence of this self-inflicted damage is overwhelming. The loss of MSD’s planned £1 billion research facility was a major blow. The suspension of Eli Lilly’s lab project and the significant scaling back of Sanofi’s UK operations are further proof of a system that is pushing companies away, rather than attracting them.
This destructive trend is rooted in a commercial environment that has become toxic for pharmaceutical companies. The key issues—an uncompetitive pricing system for new drugs, high revenue clawbacks, and underfunding of the NHS—are well-known but remain unaddressed. The government’s internal paralysis on the matter has transformed a problem into a full-blown crisis.
The UK’s world-class university system is a remaining strength, but it cannot thrive in isolation. It relies on a healthy commercial sector to translate its innovations into economic growth. To stop this act of self-harm, the government must immediately reverse course with radical, pro-investment policies, or it will be remembered for having dismantled a pillar of the British economy.