Pharma backs charity funding support plea

The pressure is growing on the government to provide more financial assistance to medical research charities, which have seen their funding decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 30 top pharmaceutical and health tech companies have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for help to plug what is expected to be £310 million hole in research spend over the next year.

The letter highlights that medical research charities are ‘crucial partners’ in a life sciences sector that generates over £74 billion in turnover and supports nearly a quarter of a million jobs in the UK.

Since 2008, such charities have invested £14 billion in research in the country, with £1.9 billion in 2019 alone. Also, it says their contribution to our industry is unique in that they can provide powerful, independent insights from patient communities, fund riskier early-stage research and work within rare diseases, invest in research infrastructure and foster collaboration between industry, academia and others.

‘COVID-19 has had an immediate and devastating impact on medical research charities’, the letter states, noting that it will likely take four years to recover to normal levels of funding, further underscoring the need for significant action.

Earlier this year, Cancer Research UK announced job cuts and warned that it could be forced to slash £150 million per year from its research funding, while the British Heart Foundation said it could have to cut its research spend by half this year – from £100 million to around £50 million – to help it deal with the dramatic fall in income.

The letter’s signatories, which include the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, AstraZeneca, MSD, Pfizer, Roche and GW Pharma, are calling on the government to commit to a Life Sciences Charity Partnership Fund, a co-investment scheme created by the AMRC (Association of Medical Research Charities) that would provide a level of match-funding from government for charity research.

As part of the scheme, the AMRC is calling for at least £310 million from government in the financial year 2020/21 to bridge the sector’s projected research spend gap, which would be matched funding from charities “to ensure overall sector investment is maintained”.

According to the letter: ‘By preserving charity-funded research in the short-term, government can help create high-quality research, innovation infrastructure and skills benefiting the UK economy in the longer term’.

“Medical research charities play a vital role in UK life sciences, funding early-stage, high-risk research and attracting essential international talent to boost the UK’s skills pipeline. However, their ability to continue to do this is under threat,” stressed Richard Erwin, general manager at Roche Products Limited.

“We believe that the UK can become the global leader in life sciences, and medical research charities are a key ingredient in achieving this. The proposed Life Sciences-Charity Partnership Fund should be developed immediately to ensure charities’ unique contributions are not lost as the UK begins its economic recovery.”

“The UK is one of the leading life sciences hubs in the world, a reputation which has been built on the strength of the research and development carried out in this country, much of which starts with medical research charities. Only through continued investment into R&D, and collaboration between leading specialists, institutions and research organisations, can we continue to advance medical science and address the health challenges of the future,” added GW Pharma’s chief operating officer, Chris Tovey.