Plans to grow the North East's thriving life sciences sector and create 12,000 new jobs have been outlined.
The North East East LEP is aiming to build on the region’s long-established strengths in health, life sciences and pharmaceuticals with a strategy to double the sector in size by 2030.
The plan - which comes as the coronavirus has highlighted the importance of businesses and innovation in the health sector - aims to see the number of jobs in life sciences double from 12,000 to 24,000 and the number of companies go from 150 to 300.
The LEP's strategy has been published as a number of North East pharmaceutical and health companies have been at the forefront of the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lucy Winskell, chair of the North East LEP, said: “At a time when the world is facing challenges brought by an ageing population, and grappling with the consequences of Covid-19, the North East has the potential to become a leader in developing treatments which can improve quality of life the world over, while stimulating economic growth in our region.”
Prof Chris Day, vice chancellor of Newcastle University and chair of the Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research, added: “The North East is home to international academic research expertise in health and life sciences which not only provides competitive advantage but creates significant regional benefits. Our growing reputation as a testbed and living lab is enabling us to accelerate innovation as well as attract investment and skills.”
The North East has a long-established reputation for life sciences, with Newcastle University having one of the top ranked 海角视频 medical schools and a national centre for ageing, while global operators such as Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline have bases in the region.
The region also has a number of other growing pharmaceutical companies, while Newcastle’s Helix science and business park and the NETPark site in Sedgefield have become hotbeds of innovative start-ups in the life sciences field.
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The LEP’s Health, Life Sciences and Medicines Manufacturing Strategy identifies opportunities for growth in a number of areas, including the development of advanced therapies and drug delivery systems, growth of the pharmaceutical manufacturing supply chain, diagnostics development and scale-up.
The report outlines the need to support a system of innovation centres that supports businesses to start, grow and scale in the North East, and also highlights how the region’s advanced manufacturing cluster can contribute to the global pharmaceutical industry.
The strategy has been backed by Oxford University professor Sir John Bell, who has been one of the most promiment voices from the scientific community during the Covid pandemic.
He said: “The North East has a diverse and vibrant clustering of life sciences, manufacturing and health services. I believe that the work that is being done in the North East can support more growth in the region and make a strong contribution to our wider 海角视频 initiative to promote research collaboration, partnership and investment globally as part of Government’s strategic national approach to life sciences.”