The BHF welcomes Government’s new UK Life Sciences Vision

Today we have welcomed the Government’s new UK Life Sciences Vision, which sets out a 10-year strategy that will build on the successes of the sector’s response to COVID-19 and accelerate the delivery of life-changing innovations to patients. 

The Vision outlines seven critical healthcare missions that government, industry, the NHS, academia and medical research charities will work together on at speed to solve – including treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease and its major risk factors.

These missions will focus on preventing, diagnosing, monitoring and treating disease early. They will leverage the considerable clinical trials expertise and innovation found in the UK to develop breakthrough products and treatments quickly to help save lives. The missions are:  

1. Treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and its major risk factors, including obesity
2. Accelerating the pace of studies into novel dementia treatment
3. Enabling early diagnosis and treatments, including immune therapies such as cancer vaccines
4. Sustaining the UK’s position in vaccine discovery, development and manufacturing
5. Reducing mortality and morbidity from respiratory disease in the UK and globally 
6. Addressing the underlying biology of ageing
7. Increasing the understanding of mental health conditions, including work to redefine diseases and develop tools to address them

‘Unimaginable progress is possible’

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, our Medical Director, was involved in the development of the new Life Sciences Vision. He said: “Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes, are still responsible for one in four deaths in the UK, and growing numbers of people are living with them. These diseases represent one of the most pressing health challenges we face.

“The life science sector’s response to the pandemic has shown that unimaginable progress is possible when the research community unites behind a common goal and unleashes the full potential and capability that exists in the UK across the NHS, academia and industry, supported by government and medical research charities. By bottling this approach, this Vision could set the stage for the rapid development of new ways of preventing and treating heart diseases as well as the conditions that cause them, such as obesity.”

Collaboration is key

The UK’s life sciences sector has been at the centre of the country’s efforts to combat COVID-19. Early in the pandemic we partnered with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to launch the NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular Partnership, with the aim of accelerating research into COVID-19 and heart and circulatory disease.

To ensure people continue to feel the real-world benefits of UK life sciences, the Vision prioritises collaboration between the sector and the NHS, alongside the UK’s world class regulators and academics. These partnerships will help to accelerate the development of new drugs, diagnostics, medical technology and digital tools to deliver life-changing innovations to patients.