6. 6. Statement: The Genomics for Precision Medicine Strategy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:19 pm on 13 June 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 5:19, 13 June 2017

It's an interesting point you make, and I'm delighted that there is something that Lee Waters has stood up and said he is genuinely excited by. But, you know, you raise an important point about how we do target our best areas to realise real gain, not just in health terms, but, you're right, about the economic sector. And, of course, the strategy was launched in 2013 jointly by the then Minister for Health and Social Services and the Minister with responsibility for the economy.

It has always been a recognition about the dual benefit to be gained. You’re right about the life sciences sector as an area for growth that we’ve already seen, but it isn’t about trying to directly compete with what happens in and around Cambridge. There will be a range of people who will always choose to go there first, but, actually, what I think is genuinely encouraging is about the way in which we are setting ourselves up in Wales to understand a different sort of conversation with the pharmaceutical industry, who, after all, will still be significant players in investing in the future of medical research and innovation, and in which our higher education sector—and, going back to the points Angela Burns made, about the way in which we use data within Wales as well. Because what the English system doesn’t have is it doesn’t have a genuinely integrated national approach, which we do have here. So, that means we’re going to be able to roll out a national approach to pathology, which can’t happen in England because they’ve got so many different bodies getting in the way of how they will make different choices.

Now, without getting into the party politics of how they’ve managed to reach that point, in the system in Wales it’s a genuine competitive advantage for us. What we’ll need to be better at, not just over the next few years, but over the next decade and more, is our ability to make national choices with only 10 organisations in the health field—the health board and trusts and then the Government with them as well—and how we actually get alongside people to make those choices. Because we’ve already seen a range of pharmaceutical players investing in Wales as a choice, because of the environment that we are creating, and because we’re able to have a conversation that recognises the potential without compromising on our values. That’s where we need to be as well. So, when I have conversations over at the life sciences hub, people are genuinely positive about making choices to move some of their investments into Wales because of that. But that is a point of difference to what takes place in these areas. I recognise you’ve mentioned about Cambridge, as opposed to these are areas for us to take advantage of. I’d be more than happy, once we’ve actually settled on the final stage for the strategy, in response to the consultation, to be able to give more detail on the specific areas within the life sciences sector more broadly that we expect to target and gain real benefit from.