Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support the life sciences industry.

This Government recognises that health and life sciences industries are a key source of future growth and is committed through the Life Sciences Strategy to providing a supportive wider business environment in which these industries can flourish, so that the UK can be the best place in the world to develop and launch innovative medicines, technologies and diagnostics. Priorities include: simplifying the adoption of transformative products within the NHS through the Accelerated Access Review; supporting new and growing markets and disruptive technologies – such as digital health and genomics; and working across Government to improve the UK’s competitiveness to stimulate investment and drive export growth. Our latest estimates show collective Government support since the Life Science Strategy launched has stimulated more than £6bn in new investment by the life science industry linked to more than 17,000 new sector jobs.