Biotech Evangelist Professor Sir Christopher Evans has been lobbying the government to inject £1billion in to the UK biotech sector.  He argues that to attract more venture capital public money must first be invested into the sector leading to further jobs within the industry.  There was an interesting article in the Observer yesterday http://tinyurl.com/356lp7t

I heard Dr Evans speak in March last year at a Recruitment Business Forum.  He is certainly a colourful character and passionate about the UK Biotech Industry.  The biotech sector could certainly do with a cash injection but I think it is unlikely this size of investment would be made, at this time, given the current budget deficit.

From our conversations with recruiters it seems there is a general feeling of ‘cautious’ optimism in the air as Britain drags itself out from recession. This is despite the news emanating from Britain’s two largest pharmaceutical companies.

It is believed that up to 6,000 jobs cuts will be made by GlaxoSmithKline as it streamlines its R&D function to reduce costs.

AstraZeneca announced it is going to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide by 2014 including 3,500 in research. http://tinyurl.com/yfoono2

R&D Investment is generally being switched to the ‘pharmerging markets’ where the growth potential is much greater.