Education system fails pharma industry
calibre scientists needed for the research-based pharmaceutical
industry. The concern is that financial targets have meant
university science departments becoming increasingly vulnerable to
closure.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has raised these issues during an inquiry led by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. The investigation was looking into strategic science provision in English universities.
The ABPI warned that a national strategy for key academic subjects must replace the current situation where local university finance, and funding councils that do not acknowledge industry's requirements, determine the future of education.
As well as employing science graduates in its £9 million-a-day programme of researching and developing new medicines, the pharmaceutical sector is also a significant supporter of academic research. As such, it is well placed to provide expert opinion to the inquiry.
The pharmaceutical sector is the leading source of industrial funding of the UK research base. The industry provides the third highest trade surplus of all sectors with a trade balance of £3.6 billion in 2003. The industry employed 83,000 direct employees in the UK in 2002.
Dr Philip Wright, director of science and technology at the ABPI said: "The sad truth is that the UK pharmaceutical industry is rapidly becoming dependent on scientists who have trained abroad."
"Given that the strength of the science base in this country has been one of the major reasons why so many pharmaceutical companies have decided to locate their businesses here, this is a matter for grave concern."
The ABPI noted that in recent years, fewer doctors are being trained in clinical pharmacology. Clinical pharmacologists have a vital role in the safety testing of new medicines.
Even more worryingly, the quality of chemists and in vivo pharmacology graduates was deteriorating from all but the leading universities, and the current funding situation meant that this would only accelerate in the future.
Concern is such that the pharmaceutical industry has taking a lead in generating the in vivo pharmacologists of tomorrow. The three largest R&D investors in the UK, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, are to provide funds of over £1 million per annum, with other companies joining.
Exeter University's decision to close its chemistry department and Newcastle axing pure physics were just some of the high profile cases which have resulted as a result of drastic falls in the numbers of students applying to maths and science courses over the past five years.
The ABPI pinpointed the origins of this problem to the dramatic drop in the number of teachers holding degrees in chemistry and physics in schools. This would inevitably lead to a decline in the number of pupils taking science courses at university, especially as many of the existing qualified teachers are nearing retirement age.
Wright said: "The Government's determination to expand higher education has driven individual universities to make decisions on courses to promote and which to end. This means that the overall needs of British industry are not being properly taken into account."
"A pool of quality science talent should be created, not just to enter industry, but also to sustain academia and to provide the qualified teachers who can encourage pupils to pursue science in higher education, he added."
