Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle potential barriers to investment for the life science industry; and whether his Department is taking steps to improve partnerships between the NHS and the life science industry in the context of cancer care.

The Government is committed to supporting the United Kingdom’s vibrant life sciences sector, which contributes £108 billion to the economy and approximately 300,000 jobs nationwide. A new Life Sciences Sector Plan, part of the upcoming Industrial Strategy, is due to be published in late spring 2025, and will set out a comprehensive plan for how we will drive up investment.

In parallel, we continue to deliver our strategic partnership with BioNTech, which aims to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalised immunotherapies by 2030. BioNTech and its partners, supported by the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, are currently running 12 clinical trials in the UK, with over 50 trial sites covering the country.

We have also co-funded £9 million to the MANIFEST cancer immunotherapy platform consortium composed of academia, the National Health Service and industry partners, to expand UK immunotherapy research and development capabilities and support better targeting and improved efficacy of treatments.