Merck Research Site

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for raising the VPAG scheme. The VPAG scheme, which was negotiated under the previous Government, turned out with a figure of 23%, which was completely unexpected on both sides. The industry entered the scheme jointly with government, negotiated it and that is the number it came up with. We have been trying to negotiate a better position so that the industry gets more from that and is not hit with 23%. That is the deal going on at the moment. We are trying to make the environment better for companies and to rectify something that ended up in the wrong place.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, although this news is very disappointing, can my noble friend say something about the bigger picture? My understanding is that a number of other companies are continuing to invest here and that our dedicated life sciences action plan is being widely welcomed across the sector. Can he update the House on those issues?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her work over the past year as a Minister in two departments, which I think she did brilliantly. There are indeed other companies that are investing. In the same period, Moderna has invested £1 billion in the UK, and BioNTech has invested £2 billion in the UK. There is significant growth going on in Isomorphic Labs, one of the latest companies doing AI drug design. There are numerous examples of companies that are investing. We have a Life Sciences Sector Plan that has been welcomed by industry, and we know that as part of that the commercial environment for medicines in the UK needs to be improved.