I went to a conference last week at the RSM that had a rather unexpected consequence for me. It was entitled ‘UK as a Global Hub for R and D’. Nothing remarkable in this excellent title you may say - we would all endorse it very strongly....at least in the UK! However, the extraordinary fact was that, at this meeting, there were many pharmaceutical companies mixing with scientific workers from universities and officials from the government. There was a spirit of wanting to share research and results between companies, as well as a will to work in the best places with a critical scientific mass (i.e. the universities).
This meeting would have been unthinkable only a few years ago; when I was Chairman of the Medicine Commission UK, when the cry was that never the two should meet and companies were very secretive about their basic sciences. Much has been said about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on medicine and, of course, this has a lot to do with marketing. However, even before we get to this stage there is much science to be conquered and many possible molecules to be investigated before we get anywhere near a drug that is marketable for humans with all its safety, quality and efficacy parameters honed to perfection. Last year there was, in fact, a fall in newly active substances discovered (if one takes the influenza vaccines out of the equation) and also the number of drugs being fed into Phase III have been lower last year despite the increases seen at Phase I and Phase II. All very disappointing.
This meeting was jointly run by the ABPI and the BIA . Richard Barker, the director general of the ABPI, started with his four ‘Is’....Interdependence ( all working together, closer partnerships), Investment (including from the government ), Integration (increasing across industry/Whitehall and NHS) and lastly Innovation (the big society in action). Wonderful! The CEO of BIA, Nigel Gaymond, followed this by saying that the ‘UK should be the best place for life sciences in the world. There was certain urgency about this as other countries were jostling for this particular space. However, the Minister of State for Universities and Sciences said that there was a protected ring fenced budget for science and research and he was announcing Technology Innovation Centres by launching phase 1 of therapeutic clusters. These clusters would have a common purpose ( e.g. first one is around inflammatory conditions e.g. arthritis and respiratory problems), with a talented pool of workers with comprehensive science and laboratory infrastructure amongst other things. The money set aside would also help enable clinical trials which have been difficult conduct in this country for a variety of reasons. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (DH) talked about the health of the nation, the need to reduce public spending and although the NHS was protected to some extent by the cuts, this did not mean a protection from reform.
There were many excellent speakers talking about support for translational medicine (Sir John Bell), MRC translational funding schemes (Stephen Holgate), therapeutic clusters and how they would work (Alistair Riddel). A wonderful day with a spirit of collaboration, working together, networking, opportunities and innovation. A day of shared goals, a change in the culture of working (not ‘them and us’), and at the end, the delivery of new drugs for the benefit of our patients. An inspirational meeting.
For those unfamiliar with the drug industry there is a lot behind that packet of drugs on the shelf in a pharmacy...years of basic science looking for that molecule followed by drug development, a huge investment of funds, rigorous clinical trials establishing safety, quality and efficacy, acceptance by the various regulatory bodies, marketing, a constant post—marketing surveillance..... all before they are prescribed and taken by patients! It is a wonder that anything gets to occupy that shelf!
Best wishes,
Parveen Kumar
