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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help increase growth in the UK biotechnology sector after Brexit.

Data published by the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Informa Pharma Intelligence in January 2019 showed that a record £2.2bn was raised by UK-based biotech companies in 2018, compared to £1.2bn in 2017.

The Government is committed to supporting the continued success of the UK’s knowledge intensive sectors, including the biotechnology. The first and second Life Sciences Sector Deals have reiterated the Government’s commitment to unlock over £20 billion of patient capital investment over 10 years and increase the UK’s R&D spend to reach 2.4% of GDP by 2027.

In addition to this, our recent UK Bioeconomy Strategy sets out a framework for how government, industry and academia can work together to capitalise on our world class research, development and innovation base to grow the bioeconomy. Applying our expertise in bioscience and biotechnology across multiple industry sectors can achieve clean growth and deliver real, measurable benefits for the UK economy.