Scotland's life sciences strategy
Background
In 2005, Life Sciences Scotland launched a strategy with a 15-year vision for the development of a globally focused, sustainable and collaborative life sciences sector in Scotland.
Through partnerships between industry, academia, NHS Scotland, policy makers and the wider biotechnology community, Scotland has the most comprehensive national life sciences strategy in the world.
In 2009, the Scottish life sciences industry, working with other stakeholders joined forces to create the Scottish Life Sciences Advisory Board (LiSAB) to develop, deliver and drive this strategy.
The LiSAB includes members from industry, universities, research institutions, NHS Scotland, financial institutions, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Enterprise network.
The Scottish Life Sciences 2010 Review highlights the collaborations between Scottish life sciences companies and the wider community that continue to achieve significant successes.
2020 vision
To fully realise the 2020 vision, the Scottish Life Sciences Strategy 2011: Creating Wealth, Promoting Health aims to build on Scotland's existing strengths in key business areas and to capitalise on prior investment in Scotland's research excellence.
LiSAB aims to:
- Double turnover within the sector from £3.1 billion to £6.2 billion by 2020
- Double the sector’s contribution to the Scottish economy from £1.5 billion to £3 billion
The strategy aims to build on Scotland’s existing strengths, particularly in key business areas such as medical technologies and pharma services where there is already a substantial local company base, ranging from innovative start-ups to global multinationals.
Emerging opportunities
LiSAB also aims to capitalise on prior investment in Scotland’s research excellence, particularly in areas such as stem cells and regenerative medicine and clinical/translational medicine, where there are significant current and emerging commercial opportunities.
LiSAB has also identified a number of exciting new opportunities for Scotland arising from global economic and health trends, which could deliver significant economic impact in the future. These include areas such as assisted living, stratified medicine, wellness and sustainability.