According to science.org, a House of Lords committee published a damning report today titled “Bleeding to death: the science and technology growth emergency” that reveals the UK’s science sector is in crisis. Major pharmaceutical companies including Merck, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, and Sanofi have halted or canceled multimillion-pound investments in recent months, blaming lack of government support. The UK hosts only three of the top 100 industrial R&D spenders globally despite having four top-10 universities, and scientists face paying over £20,000 upfront for a family of four to relocate due to visa and NHS fees. The committee warns the UK risks becoming an “incubator economy” that develops startups only to lose them when they scale up overseas, particularly to the United States.
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The pharma exodus is real
Here’s the thing: when companies like AstraZeneca and Merck start pulling out, you know there’s a serious problem. John Bell, former president of the Ellison Institute of Technology, told the committee that major pharma companies have essentially said “they are out and are not coming back.” That’s not just worrying – it’s potentially catastrophic for the UK’s life sciences sector. These aren’t small startups making noise; these are established giants with deep pockets who’ve decided the UK isn’t worth investing in anymore. And when they go, they take jobs, research funding, and entire ecosystems with them.
An absurd act of self-harm
The report absolutely nails the visa situation, calling it “an absurd act of national self-harm.” Scientists wanting to move to the UK with their families face costs 17 times higher than in comparable countries. £20,000 upfront? For a family of four? That’s insane when you’re competing for global talent. The government increased earnings requirements above what early-career researchers would make, and even the Global Talent visa comes with eye-watering NHS fees. Basically, the UK is telling brilliant scientists “we don’t want you” while claiming to be a science superpower. The committee got it right – we should be rolling out the red carpet instead of red tape.
The incubator economy problem
This might be the most concerning long-term trend: the UK is becoming what the report calls an “incubator economy.” We pour money into early-stage research and development through our world-class universities, then watch as companies take their growth and economic benefits elsewhere. Mostly to the US, where investment opportunities are more abundant. So we’re doing the hard work of nurturing startups through the risky early stages, only to miss out on the real payoff when they succeed. It’s like planting a garden and then letting your neighbors harvest all the fruit. And with only three of the top 100 industrial R&D spenders based in the UK, we’re not attracting the big players either.
Breaking the doom loop
The committee’s solution involves creating a National Council for Science, Technology and Growth that could make quick decisions during crises. They want to address the funding crisis in universities, make academic pay competitive with business, and get UK pension funds to invest domestically. But here’s the real question: will any of this actually happen? The government has this ambition to host a trillion-dollar tech company by 2035, but that seems pretty distant when companies are fleeing right now. The report says lawmakers need to “stop the bleeding” first – and honestly, that feels more urgent than any long-term vision. Because if the bleeding continues, there might not be much left to build on by 2035.
