The Government needs to do more to support life sciences in the UK and create an environment where the industry can flourish, a new survey has found.

RSA’s The UK Life Sciences Leaders’ Survey 2011 revealed worries over the NHS reforms, medicine pricing and reimbursement, employment issues and the cost of research amongst its leaders.

Nick Stephens, CEO of RSA, says the Government “urgently needs to do more to ensure that education, regulation, access to medicines and the NHS research base align to support the industry’s continued contribution to the UK economy”.

The report is the second annual survey of industry bosses. Last year the general feeling was of optimism with leaders believing the recently elected coalition Government would improve the business environment.

But twelve months later the mood has changed with results finding leaders claim the UK is not competing effectively globally, creating opportunities for early phase/smaller companies or making the most of its unique selling points: the NHS and skills in innovation and discovery.

Leaders also raised concerns about the increasing cost of working in the UK, the implication of R&D as a result of the NHS reforms, the regulatory burden on operations and the process from development to market. They also advised that fiscal and tax incentives should be given to SMEs to help their growth and the UK compete globally.

Worries were also raised about the introduction of value-based pricing. However, in contrast, health technology assessments were broadly welcomed as a means of enhancing value and meeting therapeutic requirements, the report found.

During the tough economic environment, the survey found that leaders would focus on innovation, creating flexible organisations and processes, and refocusing research and development to weather the current storm.

In a perfect world, leaders revealed they would investing in R&D and make the healthcare sector, regulatory and commercial environment work closer together to achieve better outcomes for patients and the pharmaceutical industry.

Stephen Whitehead, CEO, ABPI, says the survey shows more support is needed for biopharmaceutical companies in the ever-changing NHS. “There is much that the Government has done to support the industry, particularly through the Growth Review and the Office for Life Sciences,” he said. “But we need to build on this as part of a continuing relationship with NHS and Government to explore how unnecessary bureaucracy can be eliminated from the healthcare system so that new treatments can reach patients as quickly as possible.”

John Wilkinson (pictured), Chief Executive of Eucomed, has received a special Career award from the International Vascular and Endovascular Course (IVEC) in Milan.

The award recognises the medtech industry’s contribution to the development of vascular and endovascular surgery.

IVEC Chairman Giorgio Biasi presented the award to John Wilkinson to “honour the excellence of a distinguished scientist and eminent colleague who has contributed enormously in promoting, divulging and spreading culture, development and achievements in the field of vascular and endovascular techniques.”

Following the award presentation, Wilkinson gave the Edmondo Malan Lecture on ‘Development and Achievements in Endovascular Procedures as a Result of a Continuous and Ingenious Co-operation between Physicians and Industry’.

He discussed the long history of collaborative working between clinicians and industry over 200 years, with ideas from doctors and surgeons being developed by companies, culminating in such revolutionary devices as the drug-eluting stent.

Wilkinson also emphasised the need for innovation to be built on a platform of ethical interaction and transparency, and for industry to support education and training in the delivery of new therapies.

Finally, he drew attention to the demographic and economic challenges facing Europe’s health systems, and called for a collaborative approach between all stakeholders to support innovative solutions to these urgent problems.

Eucomed is the leading European medical technology industry association. It represents 4,500 designers, manufacturers and suppliers of medical technologies.

The Health and Social Care Bill is set to continue its progress after the Government won two key votes in the House of Lords.

Peers voted 330 to 262 against an amendment to refer parts of the Bill to a special select committee and also rejected an amendment to block the legislation altogether.

Ministers say that the votes show the Bill now has wide spread support but the BMA has again called for it to be “withdrawn” or “substantially amended”.

A line by line examination of the Government’s controversial reforms will now begin in the House of Lords on 25 October. Labour has said it will again “fight” the proposals despite the outcome of the votes.

The amendment to block the Bill was put forward by Labour peer and former GP Lord Rea, who argued that it was never a manifesto by either the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats. It was rejected 354 votes to 220.

Attempts to delay the progress of the Bill, which Lord Howe said my “prove fatal” to the NHS, were tabled by two crossbench peers, Lords Owen and Hennessy. The two called for its referral to a special select committee, which would have allowed witnesses and experts to provide evidence on the proposals after concerns were raised about the responsibility of the health secretary and the role of the NHS’ regulator Monitor in promoting competition.

A spokesman for the DH says decision by Lords “moves us one step closer to delivering a world-class health service that puts patients at its heart and hands more power to health professionals”.

But Andy Burnham, Labour’s recently appointed Shadow Health Secretary, says hearts “sunk around the NHS” when the Bill survived the votes and the Government is “digging in for the long haul” as it faces more opposition.

Doctors’ leader Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of the BMA, says it continues to have concerns about “many areas” of the Bill and says the council will continue to raise its opposition “at every available opportunity”.

Dr Meldrum called for an assurance that patients’ choice of provider of care would not be given priority over the development of integrated services and fair access.

“We also need to see an explicit provision that the Secretary of State will retain ultimate responsibility for the provision of comprehensive health services. In addition, we continue to have significant concerns over the arrangements for public health and education and training and we will be looking to see improvements made in these areas too.”

Read more on this story on Medtech Business.

Seven medical devices, diagnostics and healthcare IT have been named in Cleveland Clinic’s Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2012.

The list of medical devices and therapies was chosen by a panel of physicians and scientists at Cleveland Clinic, named one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by the US News & World Report survey.

The annual list recognises new techniques, therapies and approaches to treat medical conditions.

The selection criteria for qualifying in the Top 10 Medical Innovations required nominations to:

• Have significant potential for short-term clinical impact (either a major improvement in patient benefit or an improved function that enhances healthcare delivery)
• Have a high probability of success
• Be on the market or close to being introduced
• Have sufficient data available to support its nomination.

The Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2012 are:

10. Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Reduce Disease Threat

9. Novel Diabetes Therapy: SGLT2 Inhibitors

8. Harnessing Big Data to Improve Health Care – Health care data requires advanced technologies to efficiently process it. Analytics can be applied to better hospital operations and tracking outcomes for clinical and surgical procedures.

7. Active Bionic Prosthesis: Wearable Robotic Devices

6. Implantable Device to Treat Complex Brain Aneurysms

5. Increasing Discovery with Next-Generation Gene Sequencing

4. Medical Apps for Mobile Devices

3. Concussion Management System for Athletes – Patient management tools can instantly detect brain injuries at the moment of contact.

2. CT Scans for Early Detection of Lung Cancer

1. Catheter-Based Renal Denervation to Control Resistant Hypertension

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical centre that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley claims the Government has “fought together” in its efforts to introduce its proposals set out in the Health and Social Care Bill.

Speaking to delegates at the Conservative Party Conference, the Health Secretary says he has battled against criticism from Labour and left-wing unions who have misunderstood his plans.

Mr Lansley said there had been “misinterpretation, misinformation and misrepresentation” about the Bill but the reforms remain “the right thing to do” for a better NHS.

He admitted that brining change has “not been easy” and the Government has always been“absolutely clear” over its plans.

“We are committed to the values of the NHS,” the Health Secretary said. “To a comprehensive, high-quality service for all, free at the point of use and based on need, not ability to pay. The Health Bill will safeguard those values.”

The Bill will also “improve quality, reduce health inequalities, empower patients and staff, improve local accountability and strengthen public health services”, he added.

The Health Secretary said to “reassure people” that the Bill is right for patients and the NHS, the Government consulted “the country’s top experts”, the NHS Future Forum, to address concerns and offer their recommendations. He said that amendments have now been made “so that competition is on quality, not price; to ensure the continuity of services for patients; to support education and training; and to strengthen integrated care”.

He ended his address by outlining his and the Prime Minister’s commitment to the NHS. “While I am Secretary of State, the NHS will never be fragmented, privatised or undermined. I am personally committed to an NHS which gives equal access, and excellent care.”

The NHS reforms have faced a continual wall of criticism, its most recent from the BMA, which said that the Bill “poses an unacceptably high risk to the NHS in England”.

David Cameron has launched the second stage in the Government’s listening exercise over the planned NHS reforms.

The NHS Future Forum will again be used to gauge opinion from patients, service users and professionals on four integration workstreams.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley initially told the Health Select Committee the next listening stage would focus on education and training, information and public health.

But a fourth strand focusing on integration has now been added following opposition to the reforms initial prioritising of competition after the first Future Forum’s recommendations.

Professor Steve Field will again chair the independent Forum, which has been expanded to more than 50 members.

He said that if Government wants to meet future challenges it is “essential that we make sure that the thoughts and concerns” of those at the centre of the reforms are listened to.

“With a broader membership across health and social care and a defined focus, I believe the NHS Future Forum will stimulate important debate on issues that really matter to people,” said Professor Field.

The findings from the four workstreams will be reported back to the Government in the autumn, although it has not been decided if they will report separately or together.

Pfizer has made a $2 million grant to the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to establish a continuing medical education (CME) programme in breast cancer.

The three-year Opportunities for Improvement programme will develop and implement an outcomes-based performance improvement initiative from ten of the NCCN institutions.

Dr William T. McGivney, CEO of NCCN, says that educating providers on evidence-based recommendations for patient care is “key” for improvement paradigm.

The programme aims to identify tailored educational opportunities, design provider-specific action plans for improvement, and quantify and evaluate the impact of educational interventions on changes in practice and patient outcomes.

The grant is the latest CME pledge from Pfizer. In June 2008, the company opted against funding for-profit CME, in favour of impartial educational providers.

In January last year, Pfizer became the first pharma company to provide financial development of a CME programme that was independent of industry influence following a similar $3m grant to Stanford University.