‘So far, Government action has been wholly inadequate. This inquiry has uncovered complicated arrangements for implementation, a lack of clear authority and accountability and a failure to engage the NHS effectively. In its turn, the NHS’s commitment to the strategy has so far been incoherent, uncoordinated and ineffective. This raises questions about the Government’s commitment to implementing the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.’

So said the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee in 2018 when concluding their inquiry on the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.

The question when it comes to the latest 2025 revised Sector Plan, is what has changed?

Today we are publishing new research (Life sciences plan assessment FINAL October 2025), sponsored by Novartis, which provides an assessment of how effective this Sector Plan might be. Positively the research finds:

• A strong Government backed narrative on the importance of the connection between life science investment, economic growth and improved population health outcomes
• High levels of ambition grounded in a balanced scorecard of specific metrics
• Commitments to bolster the work of the OLS and join-up Government activity on life sciences through a refreshed Life Sciences Council
• A regional and devolved policy agenda to supporting scaling innovation at scale through Regional Health Innovation Zones
• Greater transparency and accountability for policy delivery through dedicated SROs and clear timelines
• Refreshing the Innovation Scorecard to more closely track and monitor the uptake of innovation in the NHS

In some areas – such as how the future and re-modelled Life Sciences Council will operate and how Regional Health Innovation Zones will work alongside Health Innovation Networks – it is clear that more detail is both needed and will be forthcoming.

However and despite it being one of the three Pillars identified – the links between the Plan and NHS reform remain loosely connected. Whilst the Sector Plan includes a narrative of the industry’s importance to the NHS and the policy changes required, specifics are light. There is little on how the Sector Plan will support the delivery of the Ten Year Health Plan’s three shifts (hospital to community, analogue to digital, treatment to prevention) – beyond references to clinical trials digitisation. The Plan adopts an ‘implicit’ rather than ‘explicit’ approach – i.e. in taking actions to improve the life sciences operating environment (for example through faster regulation, and better tracking of medicine adoption) healthcare outcomes will improve and therefore such efforts align to the general mission of the Ten Year Health Plan.

The report argues that without a more explicit approach to this, the Plan’s rhetoric of connecting economic and healthcare goals may continue to be disjointed. The delivery plan for the Ten Year Health Plan – including how industry can support the MSFs provide opportunities to address this.