Support for Life Sciences in UK Spring Budget 2023 22 Mar 2023

The UK’s Spring Budget, announced on 15 March 2023, set out the government’s plans to help businesses, including the life sciences sector. In addition to an enhanced rate of tax relief for loss-making R&D-focused small and medium sized enterprises, companies investing in qualifying main rate plant and machinery can write off the full cost from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2026 under a 100% First Year Allowance.  

 In terms of the life sciences specifically, the government pledged to provide an extra £10 million of funding for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) over the next two years to help it ‘maximise use of its Brexit freedoms and accelerate patient access to treatments’. The Budget outlines that the MHRA is exploring partnerships with international agencies, such as in the US, Europe and Japan, to provide simple, rapid approvals for medicines and technologies that have received their approval from 2024. The MHRA will also have a swift approval process in place from 2024 for the most impactful new medicines and technologies, such as cancer vaccines and AI therapeutics for mental health. 

 Further measures for science include supporting the new Bedford-Cambridge section of East-West rail to connect R&D hubs in Oxford and Cambridge, along with funding for strategic economic growth around new stations, as the government recognises the need for more laboratory space to support R&D. 

 Read the full Spring Budget via this link.