Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
A landmark agreement between life sciences trade bodies in the UK shows the "sense of responsibility" felt by the whole industry to help the country overcome the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis, an expert has said.
"In these unprecedented times, we are seeing unprecedented levels of collaboration between the diverse range of players in the life sciences ecosystem," Jadeja said. "This statement of intent reflects that. It brings together UK associations representing medical device and diagnostic manufacturers, biotechs, innovators and generics, and is indicative of the serious commitment and sense of responsibility of many of the associations’ member companies to successfully navigate this crisis."
"The UK has a flourishing life sciences industry, the diversity of which ultimately drives its success in delivering benefits to patients, and will play a crucial role in these challenging times," she said.
According to the statement of intent, the bodies have agreed to prioritise research and development of Covid-19-related diagnostics, treatments, health technologies and vaccines. They have also agreed to help encourage intelligence sharing to "support patient testing and therapeutics" and "identify and support companies to facilitate testing for Covid-19".
The bodies also said work is ongoing to address the logistical and supply chain issues arising in the sector at the moment.
"We are prioritising getting medicines and health technologies to NHS patients, working to mitigate any impact that global supply chain, manufacturing and transport disruption may have on the availability of medicines and health technologies, including for clinical study and research activities," they said.
The bodies also said they will support people working in life sciences to volunteer to help with NHS service delivery "where most needed", and will look to bolster existing NHS capacity for Covid-19 testing and diagnostics too.
