ABPI sets out life sciences innovation blueprint for Scotland

The ‘manifesto for health and growth’ has been published by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) ahead of Scottish parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2026. It includes measures aimed at enabling faster patient access to innovative new treatments, facilitating more clinical trials in Scotland, and using data better to further medicines research.

According to the ABPI, Scotland “has many of the building blocks needed to be a global leader in the research, development and use of cutting-edge medicines and diagnostics”, but the industry body highlighted challenges around the uptake of new medicines, running clinical trials in Scotland, and the under-utilisation of health data that it said need to be addressed for this potential to be realised.

Edinburgh-based Steven Blane of Pinsent Masons said: “Scotland’s life sciences sector is at the forefront of global innovation and contributes significantly to Scotland’s GDP. The sector’s research supports healthcare both locally and further afield. Like many sectors, it faces a complex legal landscape shaped by post-Brexit regulatory divergence, evolving intellectual property frameworks, and increasing ESG scrutiny. Companies must navigate dual compliance regimes, protect their intellectual assets across jurisdictions, and manage heightened risks around data privacy and product liability. Government support will undoubtedly assist but there will still be a crucial role for strategic legal guidance to support local healthcare outcomes and navigate through the inevitable challenges ahead.”

According to the ABPI, it takes more than a year – 374 days, on average – for patients in Scotland to gain access to new treatments after those medicines are licensed for use. Even then, it added, medicines are less accessible to patients than in comparison to many other European countries – including England.

To address this issue, the ABPI has put forward a series of recommendations – including that Scottish health boards are provided with financial incentives to “deploy clinically effective and cost-effective innovations in line with timescales set out by the Scottish government”. It further recommended that health boards be obliged to adopt medicines that the Scottish Medicines Consortium approves for use on the NHS – or explain why they are not.

In relation to clinical trials, the ABPI warned Scotland is at risk of “losing clinical trials … to faster and more reliable competitor countries”. It cited UK government plans to cut the time it takes researchers to set up a clinical trial in England, to 150 days, and called on the Scottish government to at least match that objective. This, it said, would require the adoption of a ‘once for Scotland’ approvals model.

On health data, the ABPI said Scotland has “cradle-to-grave datasets” that, if better utilised, “offer a chance to … improve patient outcomes”. It said, though, that the data is “often fragmented, hard to access, and underused”, citing the existence of “avoidable barriers” that “hinder safe, ethical access for research and innovation”.

The body said a ‘once for Scotland’ approach to health data should be adopted, to overcome problems with data silos currently. It further called for the creation of “a single metadata directory of NHS datasets to enable meaningful analysis and insight” and said pharmaceutical industry access to Scottish health data should be streamlined and simplified “in ways acceptable to the public and healthcare professionals”.

The ABPI also said the next Scottish government should ensure that global companies have “a single point of entry … to access Scottish health data across the country”.

Richard Torbett, ABPI chief executive, said: “The opportunity from Scotland’s life sciences sector is real – but unlocking it depends on bold choices that put research, innovation and patient access at the heart of Scotland’s health and industrial strategy.”