Life sciences can breathe life into the Welsh economy

Relying on the life sciences sector to help Wales prosper is no experiment

THE past few years have seen an expansion in the medical and life science sector across Wales. There are now nearly 300 companies currently working alongside clinical academic institutions, medical charities and the Welsh Assembly Government in developing new medicines and treatments for patients across the world. Many of these companies are small, ‘spin outs’ from local universities looking to attract investment, while others are major employers and globally recognised companies. Both offer much needed highly skilled and well paid jobs.

This growth in the life sciences sector is a potential route to economic recovery for Wales. However, for Wales to sit back and think the job is now done would be a big mistake. The Welsh life sciences industry faces perhaps its stiffest test yet, with other parts of the UK and the rest of the world also looking to come out of recession, and preparing to increase support and investment in local life sciences sectors.

Of course, if the sector thrives here, it is not just the economy that benefits. Innovations in healthcare, improved medicines, diagnostics and devices all have the potential to improve the health and wealth of our population. For example, statins are now common medicines which have been estimated to have saved almost 3,000 lives in Wales over a recent five-year period. As a consequence, they have contributed over £3.5bn to the economy. Likewise, innovations in cancer treatment and therapy may soon allow the majority of cancers to be considered manageable chronic diseases.

To ensure continued success, the Office for Life Sciences, part of the UK Government, launched a policy agenda aiming to use the NHS as a centre for innovation; build a more integrated life sciences industry; secure greater access to finance and investment; and market UK life sciences across the world. The relevance to Wales of this UK policy is there for all to see. Just days after the OLS Blueprint was launched in 2009, the then-First Minister, Rhodri Morgan announced phase two of the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University, with up to 650 jobs. Professor Richard B Davies, vice-chancellor for Swansea University, said the initiative will benefit “the whole region and beyond” with “the resulting advances in medical practice, and through the development of a cluster of high- technology life science companies”.

Wales is not devoid of groundbreaking collaborative private-public sector initiatives. In the same week that phase two of the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University was given the green light, Cancer Research Technology, Cardiff University, The Institute of Cancer Research and global medicine developer Merck Serono announced that they were combining their research power and financial muscle to progress new life-saving medicine development in Wales.

Only last month the first human clinical trials started on a new drug, developed in Cardiff to treat infections caused by the hepatitis C virus. The medication, taken orally, was first prepared at the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University in 2008 and subsequently licensed to US pharmaceutical company Inhibitex. The drug, now being trialed on humans for the first time, holds the potential to reduce the leading cause of liver transplantation in Western countries and treat up to 170 million people world wide.

Another example of excellence and good practice is the establishment of a Cancer Research UK Centre in Wales. Here researchers and support staff from the Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, Cardiff University and Cancer Research UK will aim to increase the rate at which academic findings are translated into therapies. In addition, several companies have also been turning their attention to Wales following the leap forward in Alzheimer’s disease research by the Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics. It is these gems which should be polished and enhanced to become beacons for further public and private sector life sciences investment in Wales.

Across the UK, the pharmaceutical sector supports more than a quarter of a million people in high-value jobs, of which over 72,000 are employed directly by pharmaceutical companies. Every year the pharmaceutical industry invests £4.5bn in research and development in the UK, a quarter of all private sector R&D investment. Worldwide, the market opportunity is close to $1trillion. So, even though the medical sector looks prosperous in Wales in isolation, it is but a drop in the ocean of the global market.

Despite global competition, smaller countries can take advantage of the opportunities life sciences present. Scotland appears to have recognised this obvious potential, and already has a Life Sciences Board, which enjoys the full support of the Scottish Government and includes senior industry expertise. Such a co-ordinated and proactive approach has to be applauded and already means that Scotland attracts 15% of the UK’s medical R&D investment – consistently punching well above its population weight.

Here in Wales there are some very good examples of life sciences contributing to thriving local economies. Once pharmaceutical companies are here, they often stay and set down deep roots. Penn Pharma has been based in Tredegar for 20 of the 30 years it has been in existence. Its current five-year expansion programme is getting £12m of investment but will create 133 skilled, well-paid jobs while safeguarding the future of a further 100 jobs. But the project has been started to pave the way for a total redevelopment of the site to meet future growth demands.

Meanwhile, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics’ new state-of-the-art facility in Bridgend will include a 125,000 sq ft main building on the 10-acre site, and will open in 2010. The company’s Welsh operation, which employs 400 people, plays a critical role in the company’s supply chain around the world.

Just last week, Quay Pharma, a specialist in testing and designing new products for the industry, opened a £2.7m pharmaceutical facility in Deeside which will create 65 new research and development jobs and safeguard 19 more. This initiative has been achieved with the support of the Welsh Assembly Government, which provided a grant toward the establishment costs. These significant investments also show that the necessary skills base is here.

This is evidence of political will behind expanding the Welsh life sciences sector. Carwyn Jones singled it out as part of his vision for a future Wales during the Labour leadership contest, while Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones, who opened the Quay Pharma development, has said medical companies are “creating precisely the kind of skilled jobs that the Welsh economy needs”. The appointment of Lesley Griffiths AM as the first minister in the Welsh Assembly Government with science specifically in her title is also a healthy sign. The Deputy Minister demonstrated her interest and willingness to support the sector in a recent visit to Ipsen’s expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Wrexham.

It is very positive that the Assembly recognises the importance of such jobs. The life science industry is a critical part of the knowledge economy, and a well recognised marker of global competitiveness. However, words and funding are not enough. Wales needs to have pro-active ambitions for the life sciences sector, if only to ensure that we remain competitive and attract its high-skilled jobs and manufacturing investment. However, just as importantly – if not more so – recognise that further collaboration between the private and public sector will benefit the health as well as the wealth of the people of Wales.