Introduction

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Science and Technology Committee Inquiry on science communication.

The ABPI represents innovative research-based biopharmaceutical companies, large, medium and small, leading an exciting new era of biosciences in the UK. Our industry, a major contributor to the economy of the UK, brings life-saving and life-enhancing medicines to patients. We represent companies supplying around 90 per cent of all medicines used by the NHS, and are researching and developing the majority of the current medicines pipeline, ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of helping patients prevent and overcome diseases.

The ABPI is recognised by government as the industry body negotiating on behalf of the branded pharmaceutical industry for statutory consultation requirements including the pricing scheme for medicines in the UK.

Summary of key points

• STEM education and careers support is vital to generate a skills base which can continue to support the life sciences industry in the UK. The pharmaceutical industry is committed to supporting STEM teaching and public engagement in the UK.

• There is a wide range of excellent resources and programmes coordinated by a broad range of Governmental, non-governmental and private sector organisations to support STEM engagement by students and the public. Examples for the pharmaceutical industry include the ABPI schools and careers websites, and the large number of student placements offered by the industry.

• Public engagement in science and technology, medical research, and associated policy, is also important to support the life sciences industry. There are a number of examples of good practice of the Government actively seeking public engagement and dialogue, such as through the NIHR INVOLVE programme, and Research Council public dialogues. Such practice should be promoted and facilitated across relevant departments.

• There are some areas where greater Government support for public engagement and education would be valuable. One key area is on the use of health data in research.

1. The communications strategies being taken to encourage young people to study STEM subjects in higher and further education

1.1.   Students’ experience of STEM subjects in schools is crucial to shaping public attitudes towards science. Furthermore a good experience of STEM in secondary education can facilitate uptake of STEM degrees in higher and further education[1]. As a science-based industry, a strong STEM skills base and informed public, are essential for the continued success of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK. Therefore, the industry is committed to working with schools and other public organisations to support and facilitate STEM engagement with young people, inside and outside of schools, to ensure that curriculum content in STEM subjects is engaging and relevant to students’ lives, and to increase awareness and understanding of the benefits of pharmaceutical research for patient treatment and quality of life.

1.2.   The ABPI Schools website[2] is one example of how the industry can support STEM teaching and strengthen student engagement. Through our free resources for students and teachers used by up to 150,000 visitors (with 30,000 returning visitors) to the site each month, we have provided a trustworthy source of information on biopharmaceutical research as well as the medicines development process. The resources are accessible and interactive, making them good for in-classroom use, supporting science teachers in their lesson planning and delivery. The resources are grouped by age range and are designed to link to the content of the school curriculum and are regularly updated to keep abreast of ongoing curriculum changes in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The resources apply the science taught in schools to its use in the workplace and particularly to the treatment of disease, keeping up to date with new developments in research, for example the movement towards personalised medicines is highlighted in our ‘How Medicines Work’ A-level resource.

1.3.   Our member companies are also committed to supporting the education landscape for life sciences in the UK. One example is the initial funding of Project ENTHUSE[3] by AstraZeneca, GSK, and the Department of Education among others. This is a long-term programme which supports STEM subject teachers taking professional development courses. GSK has also created inspiring curriculum-linked resources to support STEM teaching, such as the ‘Body Matters’ resource[4] which helps Key Stage 3 students explore the defence systems of the human body, the wider health issues human beings face, and how infection and disease spread. We also welcome the work of the Association for Science Education (ASE) to engage with science teachers, for example through their annual teacher conference, which supports continuous education and development of science teachers. The ASE also provides resources and news for science education through their School Science website[5].

1.4.   Many of our member companies also support STEM teaching in local schools. This may range from company staff giving talks and demonstrations within schools, to offering schools tours of local research and development sites. One example is Bayer providing school students with an insight into everyday natural science phenomena through schools visits in their Making Science Make Sense programme[6]. Pfizer also launched a scheme in 2014, through which staff mentor local secondary school students[7].

1.5.   The pharmaceutical industry is also committed to increased transparency, and supporting informed debate in schools on research topics which raise particular public interest or concern, which can lead to greater student engagement. For example we have materials available to support teaching and discussion of animal research within schools[8], and support Understanding Animal Research, who also conduct volunteer visits and workshops in schools on this topic[9].

2. The communications strategies being taken to encourage young people towards STEM careers

2.1.   The UK pharmaceutical industry provides industrial training and experience to school students, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates and postdoctorates by offering work experience, placements, funding, and support for a variety of research projects. The ABPI regularly reports on links between the pharmaceutical industry and UK academia and is due to publish its most recent Industry-Academic Links Survey report next month, which demonstrates continued high levels of undergraduate and graduate placement opportunities for STEM students within the pharmaceutical industry. For example, in 2015 the UK pharmaceutical industry hosted over 600 undergraduate placements, the vast majority for a duration of a year[10]. It is important that communication strategies being taken by schools, universities, learned societies and others make young people and their influencers more aware of the benefits of taking up this type of opportunity.

2.2.   One example of such industry-academia collaborations is the GSK-Strathclyde collaborative PhD programme, which provides studentships for graduate chemists to complete a research-based PhD at GSK[11]. GSK also offers a week of in-house work experience to students from local schools[12].

2.3.   Examples of good practice of careers promotion include the ABPI Careers website, which provides up to date and accurate information on careers within the pharmaceutical industry, with over 80 careers case studies from across the range of opportunities within our sector[13]. It is important that the wide range of STEM career paths, and the diverse routes into these careers are highlighted and promoted. It is also key that under-represented groups are encouraged to consider STEM careers. A particularly successful example of encouraging under-represented groups into STEM is the WISE[14] campaign, which encourages young women into science and engineering disciplines and puts the role of women in science into the spotlight. Learned societies, such as the Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Chemistry provide a wealth of career information, through their respective websites[15],[16]. We also value the information on STEM careers through the Science Council’s careers website Future Morph[17].

2.4.   Another example of our work to facilitate awareness and understanding of careers opportunities is the joint careers evening the ABPI held last November with the Royal Society of Medicine entitled ‘A day in the life of a pharmaceutical physician’, open to medical students and junior doctors who were interested in finding out more about career options for physicians in the pharmaceutical industry, with positive feedback from delegates who had not been aware of such career opportunities. The ABPI also supports careers for physicians in the pharmaceutical industry with the publication of our careers booklet ‘An insight into careers for doctors’[18]. The yearly Bioscience Careers Festival[19], run by the Royal Society of Biology in partnership with other learned societies and the ABPI, also provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to learn about opportunities provided in the biosciences sector within both industry and academia. We also welcome the work of STEMNET and their STEM Ambassador programme[20], which many of our member company employees are involved in. STEM Ambassadors are particularly useful in providing a personal perspective on careers available to STEM students.

2.5.   Aside from the ‘traditional’ career path within research and development from undergraduate student to postdoctoral researcher and beyond, there is a growing range of alternative STEM career routes available within the UK pharmaceutical industry, such as apprenticeships. We welcome the work of the Science Industry Partnership (SIP)[21] along with the SIP’s skills partner, Cogent Skills which provides expert advice and communication on apprenticeships, as well as a strong recruitment pipeline for STEM careers through the growing SIP ambassador network. Our most recent Industry-Academic Links Survey showed that apprenticeships have doubled from 2013 to 2015 across all business areas within pharmaceutical companies[22].

3. The strategies and actions being taken by Government to foster public engagement and trust of science more widely

3.1.   Public engagement driven or supported by the government, particularly on controversial areas of science and technology, is vital to facilitate a supportive environment for the life sciences industry in the UK. We value the regular Ipsos MORI Public Attitudes to Science surveys[23], and Wellcome Trust Monitor reports[24], which allow trends in public engagement to be followed. It is encouraging to see that there are currently high levels of public interest in science, and trust and value for scientists, with 90% of people thinking that scientists make a valuable contribution to society.23 

3.2.   The pharmaceutical industry is committed to greater transparency on the processes of research and development of new medicines where possible, and to engaging with the public on controversial research issues. This is demonstrated for example in the industry’s commitment to the Concordat on the Openness on Animal Research[25], committing to provide more information to the public on this controversial topic. However, the independent voice of Government, along with other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, is important to support this work by the industry, and contribute to public trust and informed debate. 

3.3.   There are a number of areas where the Government has demonstrated increased transparency in recent years, which has fostered public trust in science. For example, the publication last year by the Home Office of non-technical summaries of research using animals[26], should facilitate public understanding of the animal research conducted in the UK. We also welcome the support from Research Councils for their scientists to participate in public engagement activities, through their provision of training, funding, and guidance[27].

3.4.   The Government’s work to improve and facilitate public and patient involvement in clinical research is also very valuable, such as through the INVOLVE programme within the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)[28]. We also support the Health Research Authority’s (HRA) commitment to improving transparency within health research through their affiliation with AllTrials[29] and the continuation of their transparency workshops[30]. Patient involvement in research is also supported by local publically funded projects, such as TrialsConnect[31]. Where possible, we support the involvement of young people in the design and delivery of clinical research, in order to carry out relevant research which fits the needs of young people. We welcome in particular the active involvement of young people in health research through the Generation R project, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, NHS trusts and other National Health Service Organisations[32].

3.5.   There are some areas however, where greater action by the Government or public agencies would be valuable. Examples include:

• Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 prohibits the release of any information obtained through conducting a role under the Act. This limits transparency and public engagement on the use of animals in research, both by the Home Office and the bioscience sector. The Coalition government held a public consultation on this clause in 2014 and we understand that there was broad agreement across the bioscience sector, and other stakeholders, that the clause should be repealed, whilst maintaining appropriate protection for people, places and commercially and academically sensitive information. However, the Government has not responded to the consultation or progressed any action. We would welcome the progression of this issue, as this would facilitate public engagement on the use of animals.

• Health data, from genomic data through to electronic health records, has the potential to revolutionise the research, development and delivery of new medicines and healthcare. The unique UK health service also means that the UK has the potential to be the go to destination of choice for this work. However, for this to be the case, researchers and scientists require access to health data within a clear and proportionate governance framework. This depends critically on patient consent, and therefore on public engagement and trust. It would be useful if the government could drive public engagement on this topic, as has been done successfully in Scotland via the SHARE programme. A useful approach could be to publicize case studies of how and why health data is used in research, highlighting its benefits for patient care.

3.6.   A particularly important route for raising public engagement with science is through museums. We welcome the Government’s investment in these, such as the funding provided to the Science Museum Group, which hosted over 600,000 educational visits over the last year. Educational visits have provided informal learning opportunities at the Science Group’s museums and elsewhere have “enabled people to engage with the complexities of scientific research and raised the level of scientific literacy” in the UK[33].

4. The extent to which public dialogue and consultation is being effectively used by Government in science and technology areas of policy-making.

4.1.   The importance of engaging patients and carers at every stage of the R&D process is being increasingly recognised by the pharmaceutical industry, due to the unique perspective and understanding of their condition and healthcare experience that they bring. We feel it is equally important that patients, carers, and the public are engaged with science and technology areas of policy-making, which may ultimately impact their healthcare.

4.2.   We welcome the increasing recognition by many government departments and agencies of the importance of engaging patients and the public in relevant areas of policy-making. One example of this is the explicit aim outlined in the Corporate Plan of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) to ‘ensure better representation of patient and public views in regulatory decisions’[34]. Another example is BIS’s citizen space which has been used to host consultations, facilitating public engagement with science and innovation policy.

4.3.   There are a number of examples of good practice of the involvement of patients and the public in science and technology areas of policy-making. For example, the INVOLVE programme at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) supports active public involvement in the NHS, public health, and social care research, including in influencing policy in addition to involvement and participation in research. Another example is the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Public Panel, who ‘provide advice and guidance to the MRC on projects that need a public or patient perspective’[35], and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s public dialogues which are used to support and inform policy making, such as their recent work on synthetic biology[36]. Such examples of good practice need to be recognised and facilitated across all departments and agencies who undertake science and technology policy-making.

4.4.   Science and technology areas of policy-making benefit from the input of multiple voices and perspectives. As discussed above, the public have an important role to play in contributing to such policy-making. However, experts from across disciplines, and across public and private sectors, also provide essential input to this process, with particular knowledge and expertise which cannot be readily accessed from other sources. We are therefore concerned that the new condition attached to government grants which proposes that money from any grant, either issued direct from departments or through third parties, cannot be used to “support activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties … or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action” would significantly inhibit inclusive and effective evidence-based policy-making in science and technology areas. We welcome the Government’s recent statement that they do not intend for the Research Councils, HEFCE, or the National Academies to be covered by the clause, and look forward to seeing further information on the implementation of this exemption.

April 2016