UK Life Sciences Competitiveness is Everything: The Perspectives of Abbott's Neil Harris
This year, I am standing to be a member of the ABHI Board for a third time. While it has been both a privilege and a fulfilling experience, I am conscious that there is still much to be done to support our industry and ensure we have the most competitive medtech sector possible in the UK.
In recent years, I have taken a keen interest in the Board's work to drive a more attractive inward investment environment. The advocacy of ABHI and other trade associations has paid off and I'm delighted that at last year's Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced £520 million to help attract life sciences manufacturing investment to the UK.
On a personal level I am only too aware of the impact our sector can have on people’s lives. Over the last year, my own family has benefited enormously from NHS care. My wife is a pharmacist, so I have a different perspective on the day-to-day workings of the NHS. Being Welsh, I’m also acutely aware of the importance of a UK wide focus on life sciences and the importance of the devolved nations.
Here are my priorities on behalf of Abbott for the ABHI Board if I am re-elected:
Adoption of innovation has been a challenge for the Government and NHS for the last 15 years at least. I know many ABHI members, large and small, face this challenge in a range of areas and hopefully the Sinker Review of the Innovation Ecosystem will progress, streamline and simplify the many adoption routes. To take one example where I was personally involved, it would be helpful for the Government and NHS to learn the lessons from the successful roll out of new diabetes technology and apply it in other areas – the importance of strong national clinical leadership and patient power being two important factors. Greater transparency can be a driver of change in the adoption of innovation. The more patients, clinicians and industry know about the state of adoption, the better. This is not always the case currently, particularly in more complex areas, like specialised commissioning.
Regulation is another key strategic area. We would like to see the delivery of an ambitious and robust regulatory framework for medical devices and diagnostics, including the speeding up of application and recruitment processes to conduct clinical research. What our regulatory teams want to see is a genuine choice between an attractive UKCA mark process, particularly with a seamless pathway for innovative products which benefits patients at an early stage, and an international reliance route that ensures resilient supply and encourages investment in the UK. Both are needed and both will be required at different times and for different products. Ultimately, we need to see the new framework implemented effectively and quickly to maintain confidence, provide certainty, and offset some of the delays we've experienced over the last two years.
Sustainability is another area of both opportunity and risk. I am a firm believer in having a flexible, balanced and proportionate approach whether we are looking at carbon reduction plans or creating social value. In areas like regulation, the Government has prioritised the need to ensure that the NHS has access to the full range of medical devices in the next ten or twenty years. In some areas of healthcare supply, where there are only a few different suppliers, this is a necessity. We think the industry should work to help the NHS deliver its sustainability objectives, while at the same time collaborating to help align their requirements with what is practical for our industry, without hindering innovation, resilience of supply or patient care. With such an approach, we are more likely to encourage investment and innovative solutions which help our industry and the NHS to reduce our respective environmental impacts.
To sum up, we want to create the most competitive environment possible, one which incentivises investment across a range of areas. If we can get this right, it will benefit the entire life sciences ecosystem, including our industry, the NHS and most importantly of all, the patients we ultimately serve.
Neil Harris is General Manager, UK, Ireland, Abbott’s diabetes care business & its UK Affiliate Management Representative (AMR)
Abbott is a global health technology company focused on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. It has 115,000 employees in more than 160 countries, including 2,300 in the UK.