London, UK – July 18, 2008 – The UK Biotech Business Development Wargame, which was designed to examine funding and sustainability problems affecting the UK biotechnology sector, took place on the 14th-15th July, 2008. The wargame stimulated intense debates on a number of critical issues for the sector between leading members of the industry from the UK and the US. There was wide agreement at the end of the wargame that, without significant change, there is strategic risk to the sustainability of the UK biotech sector.
Initial conclusions from the wargame will be released in a flash report on 21 July, 2008. These results are set to prompt a compelling agenda for change that will call for real and progressive steps to further strengthen the biotechnology industry in the UK.
The wargame was commissioned by the Bioscience Futures Forum (BFF) and was run by the wargame specialist company Simulstrat.
Dr. Gill Samuels CBE, Chair of the Bioscience Futures Forum commented: “The fascinating outcomes and conclusions of the wargame will not lie dormant, they will provide a basis for an innovative agenda for change that will seek to provide realistic solutions to the challenges that the biotechnology sector faces. We are incredibly grateful to everyone involved in the wargame and for contributing to its success.”
About the BFF
The BFF was launched by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, formerly the DTI); following the Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team (BIGT) report that advocated the creation of an expert group to represent the views and interests of the UK biotech sector and encourage a more supportive environment for biotech development. The BFF identifies issues in the sector and brings them to the attention of the Government, politicians and senior civil servants in a way that establishes a basis for change. The results from the BFF Wargame will be submitted through the Biotechnology Innovation Growth Team Review in the second half of this year.
About Simulstrat
Simulstrat is a leading wargame specialist company that focuses on the use of war-gaming strategy to test, explore and solve key business strategies and problems. Simulstrat is led by the some of the world’s most prominent academics and strategists with an unparalleled range of experience and specialist knowledge including conflict strategy, risk management, science and technology, biochemistry and international crisis strategy. For this wargame, Simulstrat is supported by Avige which is supplying specialist domain knowledge on biotechnology funding. Simulstrat is a spin-out from King’s College London. Simulstrat was founded by Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman and Professor Ragnar Löftstedt of King’s College London, and Professor Michael Clarke, Director of the Royal United Services Institute.
BFF War-game website: www.bff-wargame.com
For further information please contact:
Amber Bielecka
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
+44 (0) 207 216 4710
amber.bielecka@citigatedr.co.uk
