2015年3月4日讯 /生物谷BIOON/-- 如果要评选世界最著名大学，英国的牛津大学、剑桥大学、伦敦学院以及帝国理工等高等学府一定会榜上有名。这些大学不仅是众多学生心中的圣地，更汇聚了世界上顶尖的科研力量。凭借这股强大的科研力量，英国一直在推动世界科技进步上扮演着重要角色。
然而，近几年来作为高科技的代表，英国在生物医药领域中的表现可谓是乏善可陈。一方面是除了阿斯利康这一根独苗之外，没有能够拿得出手的生物医药公司；另一方面在新药研发上也表现出各种无力，让人不禁感慨日不落帝国的英雄迟暮。
最近，一项统计显示这一情况甚至可能持续恶化。
根据英国国家统计局的报告显示，英国生物医药产业投入在研发和生产方面的资金已经从2011年的49亿英镑（约合75亿美元）萎缩至2013年的41亿英镑，降幅高达17%之多。
这一问题也已经引起了英国政府的高度重视，此前英国首相卡梅伦就计划着力打造以牛津、剑桥大学等高等学府为依托的英国生物医药产业研发中心，意图重振英国的生物医药产业。然而随着英国大选的临近，这一计划很有可能胎死腹中。
事实上，生物医药产业投入的萎缩也是世界各国面临的一个难题。作为一个资金、技术密集型产业，充足的资金和智力投入是在这一领域占据优势的前提。而近年来，英国的生物医药产业鲜有重大突破出现，2014年唯一值得讨论的就是辉瑞收购阿斯利康风波。这不得不说是一种悲哀，同时也应当引起中国生物医药产业的警惕。
详细英文报道：
The United Kingdom government has made the life science industry a focal point of its turnaround strategy, but data that have dripped out over the past few months show companies are spending less and less on developing and manufacturing drugs in the state.
Data released by the Office of National Statistics this week show the U.K.'s drug manufacturing output has fallen by a quarter over the period the government has held office, making it a net importer of medicines for the first time. The downward slide in manufacturing has been matched by the trend in R&D investment. Annual pharma R&D investment peaked at ?4.9 billion ($7.5 billion) in 2011; since then it has fallen 17%. The ?4.1 billion spent by the local industry on R&D in 2013 was the lowest amount since 2007.
The slump isn't for lack of effort or attention from the government. Jo Swinson, a politician in the department of business, said this week that more civil servants are working on implementing the life science strategy than on any other industry bar construction. An estimate of the workload of civil servants released by Swinson shows 6.1 full-time equivalents are focused on life sciences, most of whom occupy fairly senior positions within the organization. Life sciences is the only sector to which the equivalent of one full-time grade 6 civil servant--the level below deputy director--is dedicated.
Parsing out the effect of this focus will prove tricky. And even if R&D investment starts to improve, the uptick might come too late for the current government to claim credit. Prime Minister David Cameron came to power at the high watermark for U.K. pharma R&D investment, after which cutbacks by the likes of Novartis ($NVS) and Pfizer ($PFE) rocked the industry. With the election coming up in May, it is possible he will be out of power by the time the transition he has tried to oversee takes full effect.