George Freeman MP, Minister for Life Sciences, has outlined the key measures impacting the life & health sector from this week’s Budget.

£135 million of funding was announced for a range of Life Science and health related activities, with a new interdisciplinary research institute, further funding for the Crick, investment in digital and data and Health North.

  • Science Frontier Projects – Rosalind Franklin Institute: cross-disciplinary life sciences discovery activity in areas including optics and photonics, nanotechnology, biological chemistry and ultrahigh resolution microscopy.
  • Crick Institute: investing an additional £60m.
  • Internet of Things: £40 million for new research projects in health and social care and cities to demonstrate Internet of Things technology.
  • Health North: £20 million to enable better care for patients, and to promote innovation through analysis of data on the effectiveness of different drugs, treatments and health pathways.
  • £14 million over two years to invest in an Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) in Sheffield, focusing on physical activity interventions.
  • Sharing economy: Two pilots in Leeds City Region and Greater Manchester in 2015-16, to trial local sharing initiatives in areas including health and social care.
  • UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF): investment of an additional £400m.
  • Centre for Process Innovation: investing an additional £1m.
  • Mental Health: investing an additional £1.25 billion, with a particular focus on children’s mental health.

In February 2015 George Freeman launched the MATRIX Life and Health Sciences Foresight Report with Arlene Foster MLA and praised the success of the life & health science sector in Northern Ireland.

“The life sciences cluster is a Northern Ireland success story.” he said at the launch. “With strengths in diagnostics and medical device innovations, the sector has grown in the region by 10 per cent in the last three years.”

The MATRIX report highlighted how Northern Ireland industry and leading universities work collaboratively to develop better treatments and medical innovations for patients –  an approach endorsed by the industrial Strategy for UK Life Sciences.