PM seeks "premier league" for medical research
13 December 2006
Heads of universities, pharmaceutical companies, and major research hospitals have met the Prime Minister to discuss how to keep the South East of England the top destination for pharmaceutical and medical research.
In the Downing Street meeting, they discussed the idea of forming a "cluster" collaboration to keep the region as the top choice for medical development.
The PM said:
"We have tremendous potential to take this forward."
He added that:
"... people understand the importance of this type of innovation to our economy."
World-class medical facilities already exist in London, Cambridge and Oxford, forming the basis for a cluster. Some of the best universities and hospitals in the world exist within the 60-mile triangle.
Mr Blair said:
"The UK has a unique opportunity to be a global medical excellence centre, just as London is a world beating financial centre.
"This would bring improvements to the quality of healthcare in London and the rest of the UK, benefits to the UK economy and would improve the performance of the institutions involved."
Mr Blair hopes that all the institutions will sign up to a charter for the cluster, come up with flagship projects to attract worldwide funding, and try to bring EU medical institutions to the South East.
The initiative is seeking to mirror other well-developed medical clusters in Boston and California.
Mr Blair concluded that this would take us to "the frontier of the future where this country should remain."
