The document Life Sciences Vision was published in early July and is available here life-sciences-vision July 2021
Professor Sir John Bell, chairman of the OAHP Board, played a leading role in its development and in the introduction from Prime Minister Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, he says
“I cannot think of a time when we have been more indebted to the astonishing power of Life Sciences, so much of it pioneered here in our United Kingdom.
From the discovery of dexamethasone to the global reach of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, British genius and ingenuity is saving millions of lives around the world and allowing us to restore our liberties and livelihoods without spreading this lethal disease to our loved ones.”
The OAHP remains actively involved in all aspects of the Vision building on:
- A world class science base, with deep expertise from basic science through to clinical research – allowing innovation to move rapidly from bench to bedside.
- The National Health Service (NHS), which had the research focus, capacity, and expertise to run enormous COVID-19 trials while under unprecedented pressure, and the genomic capabilities to track the spread of, and variations in, the virus.
- The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as an independent, sovereign regulator able to act with great agility and a focus on getting vaccines, drugs, and technologies to patients as safely and quickly as possible.
- A thriving Life Sciences sector, with two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, a rich array of SMEs and a wide range of medical research charities – which were willing to work together and partner to support the national and global response to
the pandemic. - A highly successful Life Sciences Strategy, that ensured the UK had the infrastructure
and connections to mount a rapid, multifaceted response to the many Life Sciences
challenges created by the pandemic.
The OAHP’s objectives strongly support all aspects of this and the work of individual partners – Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Health NHS FT, Oxford University Hospitals NHS FT, the University of Oxford and the Medical Sciences Division, and the Oxford Academic Health Science Network – exemplifies the achievements across all aspects. The close and developing collaborations within and between the Partners, and beyond, for example across the Oxford-Cambridge ARC, the national AHSN Network, and the thriving local life sciences ecosystems, are all aimed at achieving world-class healthcare, research, teaching and education and innovations.