This report is the result of a seven-month project launched by Lord Sainsbury, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, and Lord Hunt, then a Minister at the Department of Health, in partnership with the BioIndustry Association (BIA). The mandate of the BIGT was to take a strategic approach to the future of the bioscience industry. The Chairman is Sir David Cooksey (Advent Venture Partners), a leading UK venture capitalist. The task of BIGT has been to identify any barriers that could significantly hold back the growth of bioscience in the UK.

The BIGT's vision is that by 2015 the UK will have secured its position as a global leader in bioscience. To secure this position, the UK must create:

• A diverse, self-sustaining bioscience sector, with a core of large, profitable, world-class companies.

• The most efficient and effective setting for conducting clinical trials in the world.

• A healthcare system, regulatory regime and business environment that support bioscience innovation.

There are two significant benefits for the UK in achieving this vision:

• Improved national health, through improved clinical performance and early access to innovative medicine.

• Increased national wealth: enhanced Gross Domestic Product by maintaining and supporting a high growth, high margin, high value-added, knowledge-based industry.

BIGT Recommendations

• Build a mutually advantageous collaboration between the NHS and industry for patient benefit through the creation of a National Clinical Trials Agency (NCTA). The NCTA, sponsored by the Department of Health (DH) in collaboration with Research Councils UK, should support excellence in clinical trials and clinical research within the NHS.

• Create a public and regulatory environment supportive of innovation. This includes improving regulatory support for the development, approval and use of innovative medicines in the UK, through effective collaboration between industry, regulatory agencies and Government.

• Ensure sufficient and appropriate funding is available. This includes supporting measures to improve the liquidity of bioscience companies, through adjusting pre-emption rights and corporate venturing, and investing in the bridge between idea generation and commercial financing.

• Build a strong bioprocessing sub-sector, through the creation of a network of bioprocessing centers of excellence across the UK. These centers would deliver skilled personnel, develop leading edge research and promote the UK as a target for inward investment.

• Develop, attract and retain a high quality scientific and managerial talent base, through two new programmes to support dual, interdisciplinary education essential to the bioscience sector.

• Making it happen: Create the Bioscience Leadership Council (BLC) composed of six industry representatives and six strategic stakeholders. The BLC will take responsibility for implementing and building on the BIGT recommendations and will provide a forum for Government and industry to work together to develop a successful bioscience industry.