Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the impact of pharmaceutical and medical device R&D site closures on the trends in the levels of UK’s scientific research capacity since 2010.

The Government has made no formal assessment of the impact of pharmaceutical and medical device R&D site closures on trends in the UK’s scientific research capacity since 2010.

The Government does monitor the health of the UK life sciences sector, including R&D performed by UK businesses. Office for National Statistics data shows £9.3 billion of pharmaceutical R&D was performed by UK businesses in 2024, accounting for almost 17% of all R&D undertaken by UK businesses.

We are actively working with industry to boost the UK’s competitiveness and significantly grow the volume of private sector R&D and manufacturing in the UK over the next decade. For instance, the up to £520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund and the pilot £50m Transformational R&D Investment Fund, which are supporting companies like UCB to invest in innovative early manufacturing in the UK.