Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the role of the life sciences industry will be in delivering the Genomic Healthcare Strategy.

The life sciences sector is a crucial pillar of the United Kingdom economy, employing close to a quarter of a million people and providing almost £74 billion in turnover annually. As part of the Life Sciences Sector Deal 2, companies have already committed to co-funding a number of leading genomics initiatives, recognising the important role the sector plays in supporting the development of genomic healthcare.

Two landmark industry collaborations that will feature in the Genomic Healthcare Strategy include:

- Whole Genome Sequencing of the UK Biobank: this will be funded by contributions from the UK Government, the Wellcome Trust and industry partners, with Johnson and Johnson, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca providing a combined £100 million to the project; and

- The Accelerating Detection of Disease Challenge: businesses and charities are expected to jointly invest up to £160 million, in addition to £79 million Government investment.