New Government office established to reinforce success of life sciences industry.

(From Government News Network)

] DEPARTMENT FOR INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS 042 3 April 2009 New Government office established to reinforce success of life sciences industry

A new Office for Life Sciences (OLS) has been created to address key issues affecting the pharmaceutical, medical biotech and devices sectors.

The OLS is tasked, by the end of July 2009, with taking action to make a real difference to the operating environment for life sciences companies by working across Government to address a range of key issues, including those raised in The Review and Refresh of Bioscience 2015.

Working with Departments responsible for these areas, the virtual Office will co-ordinate national policy, undertaking work to build a sustainable and integrated life sciences industry in the future. It will look at what steps can be taken to improve access to finance for SMEs and to stimulate investment in the life sciences industry.

It will also be considering how the NHS can be more effective as a champion of innovation, possible ways of getting medicines onto the market faster, how the UK can become a more attractive base …