19th February 2019

ABPI Publish Report on Bridging the Skills Gap in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has published a report on the skills gaps within the pharmaceutical industry, titled ‘Bridging the Skills Gap in the Biopharmaceutical Industry: Maintaining the UK’s Leading Position in Life Sciences’.

The report looks at the changing landscape of the sector and the skills required for the UK to maintain its leading position as a hub for medicines and vaccines R&D. It examines future concerns in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, highlighting immunology, genetics, bio-informatics, chemo-informatics and clinical pharmacology as key issues, alongside the fact that the number of UK students studying particular STEM subjects is falling or in short supply.

The report further emphasises the findings of ABPI’s 2015 and 2018 surveys, showing that certain skills (clinical pharmacology and bioinformatics) are still highly valued, but ABPI seek to address how to get young people interested in using their scientific skills for the benefit of life sciences.

The report showcases that it is crucial that pharmaceuticals, the most R&D intensive sector in the country, continues to invest. This is especially true given that the UK government is currently implementing its Life Sciences industrial strategy. The top priorities for the pharmaceuticals industry lie in: core scientific disciplines of biological and chemical sciences; a wide variety of computational disciplines; and clinical pharmacology.

Innovations in medicine development are changing the skills required, which showcases how innovation is occurring at all levels of the industry, leading to better treatment for patients. It is essential that the industry can keep pace with the technological development, with many citing automation as a future concern.

To read the report in full please click here.