Businesses in the Life Sciences industry are invited to attend a free event in Oxford on March 29 to find out more about the Government's year of action to transform the industry and the support available for businesses wishing to explore overseas markets.
Organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), the event is one of a series across the UK that kicked off in Nottingham, and continue throughout February and March.
Progress made since the creation of the OLS in January last year includes:
• the Patent Box - a 10% rate of corporation tax will be applied to patent-related income from 2013;
• the Innovation Pass - will make innovative licensed medicines for rarer diseases available on the NHS for a time-limited period ahead of a NICE appraisal;
• the creation of Therapeutic Capability Clusters - representing a new approach to strategic research collaboration between academia, industry and the NHS in the UK;
• the UK Innovation Investment Fund - started by £150 million of Government cornerstone funding - a fund that will invest in technology-based businesses with high-growth potential and which has £25m minimum committed for Life Sciences;
• a £21.5m RegenMed Programme which will support the UK's growing and strategically-important regenerative medicine industry.
UKTI chief executive Sir Andrew Cahn said: "The roadshows offer companies the chance to find out how they can make a difference, the support available to them and how they can get involved in shaping the industry's future.
"The UK has the largest Life Sciences sector in Europe and our research remains the strongest and most productive in the G8. Here is an industry where we are a world leader but where we have the potential to go further. UKTI helped to bring in £500m in research and development investment in the last two and a half years, of which the largest share was in pharmaceuticals.
"A fifth of all medicines globally are developed in the UK. But it's vital that we work together to ensure we remain competitive and continue to innovate and adapt."
There will also be interactive workshops at the roadshows, covering a range of topics including market intelligence, a marketing workshop with
one-to-one support, selling into the NHS, exhibition training, the challenge of China (with a free, exclusive report from Ernst & Young) and accessing finance in the downturn.
For more information or to register for the free event visit http://www.olsroadshow.ukti.gov.uk or call 0117-933-9543.