FOCUS – THE UK’S BIO-ENGINEERING INDUSTRY
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
In this fi ve-page overview, Eurolab looks at how the UK’s bioengineering industry might take advantage of a ‘small and closing’ window of opportunity to remain internationally competitive
A
report called ‘Don’t Fail to Scale: Seizing the opportunities of engineering biology’,
released by the Lords’ Science and Technology Committee in December 2024, has said that the UK must take much greater risks to boost UK scientifi c innovation. The result of an eight-month inquiry,
the report states that the UK has already lost its once enviable global position in engineering biology and that it is in “severe” danger of falling further behind without “urgent action”. Without such action, the Lords’
report predicts that the UK will be trapped in a “doom loop” where foreign competitors leapfrog or exploit British breakthroughs.
SMALL AND CLOSING WINDOW The report also says there is a “small and closing” window of opportunity for the UK to reverse this pattern and reassert its global scientifi c position. The Committee called for action in seven key areas: strategy, skills, regulation, infrastructure, investment, adoption and governance. In this fi ve-page special feautre
Eurolab sought a response to these recommendations from organisations in the fi eld - policy and training trade body IchemE, The UK Institute for
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www.scientistlive.com
Technical Skills and Strategy, and biotechnology company Amsbio.
ACROSS THE POND When comparing the UK with other countries, IChemE head of policy and impact Duncan Lugton says: “until quite recently the US was the obvious big competitor in terms of access to capital, their positive regulatory and incentives regime as well as a highly skilled workforce”. But, he added, “things are a little bit less certain currently”. For example, last month, President Donald Trump revoked ex President Biden’s Executive Order 14081 “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy,” originally issued on September 12, 2022. The order had been intended to
advance engineering biotechnology and biomanufacturing towards innovative solutions in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and more. Several commentators have argued that this decision is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the US biotech industry.
SCHEMES TO ATTRACT TALENT Lugton explains: “As a result of such changes, some countries like Denmark
are coming up with schemes to attract skilled workers that are leaving the US. “There is evidence that other parts of the world are seeing this as an opportunity,” he adds.
OFFERING INVESTMENT TO FIRMS The report recommended that the government off ers incentives to fi rms to invest in innovative bio-tech companies and products; as well as ensure that engineering biology is central to its industrial strategy. It also suggested that the UK government recommit to its £2 billion funding target over 10 years for research and development, this would ensure stable funding for laboratories. The aim is to ensure UK scientists
and technology companies can tackle global challenges and remain a world leader in the engineering biology sector. “The Committee said that without
urgent action across the key areas set out in the report, the “UK is at severe risk of losing the potential benefi ts of a engineering biology sector that can compete on the world stage”.
For more information read:
https://publications.parliament. uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ ldsctech/55/55.pdf
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