The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) has welcomed the Life Sciences Sector Plan set out by the Labour Party ahead of this year’s general election.
Details of the plan include:
- Bolstering the Life Sciences Council and having it report directly into the Industrial Strategy Council
- Strengthening the Office for Life Sciences to drive delivery across government
- Placing life sciences under the health secretary’s ministerial responsibilities so the sector if a key priority for the Department for Health and Social Care as well as the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
One particular section of the plan of actions released by the official opposition is to “modernise and unblock the regulatory regime” which includes creating a Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) to hold regulators accountable for driving innovation where appropriate and for delays that are holding back innovation.
Labour says the RIO will bring together the regulation executive and the secretariat for the Regulatory Horizons Council and will:
- Set and monitor targets for regulatory approval timelines, benchmarked against international comparators.
- Provide strategic steers for what activity regulators should be prioritising, drawing on priorities from Labour’s industrial strategy.
- Support a beefed-up Regulatory Horizons Council, with a new requirement for government to respond to its reports within a set time period.
Paul Fisher, head of policy, programmes and compliance, said: “BIVDA are delighted to see the clear recognition that overregulation of products places on manufacturers, and the focus on cross government solutions. Linking health to innovation and science under one owner is something we have advocated for some time, but we would be keen to see the Department for Business and Trade involved. Investment and export sales are vital to the sector, and the UK’s economic economy.
“Better use of medical diagnostics – which play a part in 70% of clinical decisions – are key to improving NHS performance and improving patient outcomes.
“As the trade organisation for medical diagnostics, BIVDA will continue to work to inform policy makers and ensure diagnostics remain at the heart of the Life Science sector.”
Other areas of the plan include a long-term approach to public R&D funding, harnessing data to improve services for patients and medical research, increasing access to finance, improving the business environment, planning reform, skills, IP & Trade, and ensuring the NHS is supporting innovation.
You can read the Labour plan, here.
