At the core of the crisis engulfing the UK’s life sciences sector is a simple but profound problem: trust is broken. The deep rift between the pharmaceutical industry and the government has poisoned the well of collaboration, leading to an investment strike that threatens to permanently diminish Britain’s standing as a science leader.
The consequences of this broken trust are now playing out in public. The cancellation of MSD’s £1 billion research centre was a clear vote of no confidence. Eli Lilly’s suspended lab project and Sanofi’s retreat from the UK market are further evidence that the industry no longer believes in the government’s promises to create a supportive environment.
This deep distrust has been cultivated over years of policy disputes. The industry feels ignored on key issues like the uncompetitive pricing of medicines, underfunding of the NHS for new treatments, and a clawback tax system they view as punitive. The government’s failure to present a united front, with the Treasury often at odds with industrial strategy, has only deepened the divide.
The UK’s universities and scientists remain a source of immense strength, but they cannot bridge this chasm alone. Rebuilding trust is the first and most critical step toward saving the sector. It will require the government to move beyond rhetoric and deliver the tangible, radical policy changes that the industry has been demanding for years.