The Royal Society of Chemistry together with members of the Drug Discovery Pathways Group - Society of Biology, Biochemical Society and British Pharmacological Society –has issued a statement in response to news of a possible takeover of UK pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca by Pfizer.
According to the joint statement, whatever the outcome of Pfizer's declared interest in taking over AstraZeneca, it is another sign of the global trend for pharmaceuticals. The UK has been a world-leader in medicines research and development, but recent closures and restructuring put this position under threat. Drug discovery is changing everywhere: large pharma businesses are consolidating and downsizing, with much of early-stage research coming from an innovation ecosystem of academia and SMEs.
The UK can stay at the cutting edge and reap the economic rewards if we act now, while the sector remains strong, to support the transition to the new drug discovery model, the statement says. When the automotive industry faced similar challenges, a government-sponsored Automotive Council played a key role in re-invigorating the sector - and now a new vehicle rolls off a UK production line every 20 seconds.
They urged the government to lead the way, by establishing a Pharmaceutical Council to bring together medical charities, funding bodies, businesses, academics, the NHS and learned societies to ensure the UK is the best place in the world to do drug discovery.
The Drug Discovery Pathways Group is an informal partnership of learned societies formed in response to the challenges and opportunities presented by the changing world of medicines research. The group aims to establish a single representative voice on key issues and develop solutions to meet the needs of the wider medicines research community.
