Bridging the skills gap in the biopharmaceutical industry (2019)

The objective of this report is to provide an update to the 2015 survey producing robust evidence of the current skills needs and future concerns in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.

01

The Industry landscape

People employed by the UK pharmaceutical sector in 2017.

Sector turnover in 20172.

02

R&D UK 2016 expenditure

The pharmaceutical industry invested

100 %

around £4.1billion (3)

This was almost as much as computer programming, information services and aerospace combined.

03

Access to skilled people

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To meet the government's ambition to increase R&D spend, we must have access to highly skilled people
04

The top priorities for the sector, from this survey are:

In core scientific disciplines of biological and chemical sciences.

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In a wide variety of computational disciplines.

  • Genomics
  • Bioinformatics and Chemoinformatics
  • Clinical pharmacology
  • Immunology
05

To help build a future-ready workforce able to research, develop and manufacture the medicines of tomorrow, the ABPI is making the following recommendations:

1. Clinical pharmacology should be on the Home Office shortage occupation list, and for the list to be reviewed more regularly so we can react to shortages more quickly. (as part of the Clinical Pharmacology Skills Alliance).

2. Create the standards for a new high-level Clinical Pharmacology Scientist apprenticeship together with the CPSA, which has now been approved for development by the Institute of Apprenticeships (as part of the Clinical Pharmacology Skills Alliance).

3. Align and work with organisations including the British Science Association to encourage more young people into STEM subjects at university and helping support a new government-funded competition for young people.

06

1. ABPI will support the British Science Association’s work to deliver a new government-funded competition for young people, inspiring them about STEM through learning how society, technologies and jobs will change as a result of addressing the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges.

2. ABPI will convene key partners in healthcare and industry to identify opportunities to improve support focused on research and innovation for medics throughout their training and career, e.g. developing ABPI’s careers resource into a new joint portal that will support, amongst others, medical students with their career.

3. ABPI will also work with Health Education England to align industry’s support for work on medical careers with the Topol Review, which will make recommendations next year on how to prepare the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future.

References

  1. ONS, BERD statistics, 2016.

  2. Office for Life Sciences, Strength and Opportunity, 2017.

  3. ONS, BERD statistics, 2016.

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Bridging the skills gap in the biopharmaceutical industry (2018)