UK SBS FWRECR16103BIS - Quantifying the factors which influence Life Science companies decisions to invest in R&D and manufacturing in a specific country when capital is internationally mobile

To inform policy and UKTIs inward investment activity we would like to understand and quantify the factors that influence the decisions to invest in a particular country at each stage of the R&D process and the factors which affect decisions on where to locate manufacturing facilities.

These factors may include, but are not necessarily limited to

• local medicines spend (by both volume and price level, preferably by disease area);
• medicines uptake;
• concordant public R&D investment;
• capital availability;
• the tax environment;
• availability of government grants;
• skills availability;
• existing infrastructure;
• local Intellectual Property law and application;
• the regulatory environment; and
• access to local markets (NHS, EU), amongst others.

DH, BIS, OLS and wider government have a range of policies and priorities which may influence factors affecting Life Science company decisions on whether to invest in the UK. Understanding the factors that affect firms' investment decisions between countries will allow HMG to direct potential future policy interventions to ensure that they are well targeted, strategic, and offer good value for money. This will also inform OLS and UKTI LSO work attracting companies to locate in the UK.

A quantified understanding of the relationship between Life Science investment decisions and medicines uptake, pricing, and spend, may help inform NHS medicines spend.