The UK and Japanese governments have announced a wide-ranging partnership that sees UK and Japan strengthen science and technology ties across pharmaceuticals, genomics, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing. The agreement was confirmed during a visit to Japan by the British prime minister and is intended to accelerate drug discovery while reinforcing manufacturing capacity.
A central element of the deal is an £11m UK investment by Orchard Therapeutics, the London-based subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin. The funding will support the development of new gene therapies targeting rare and life-threatening genetic diseases. The investment is expected to receive backing from the UK’s Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, strengthening domestic capabilities as UK and Japan strengthen science and technology ties in advanced therapies.
“Bolstering our presence, infrastructure and internal capabilities in our Hammersmith lab is a critical component to ensuring we remain well-positioned to continue developing innovative cell and gene therapies,” said Dr Bobby Gaspar, CEO, Orchard Therapeutics.
The collaboration also includes a multi-year strategic partnership between Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Genesis Healthcare. The initiative will deploy sensing technology to replace multiple legacy testing methods with a single high-resolution genomic test, designed to speed up clinical screening for under-diagnosed neuromuscular conditions.
In parallel, the two countries have committed £9.7m in joint funding for three quantum technology projects. These projects will apply quantum computing and sensing to complex challenges in drug discovery and secure data transmission.
Outside of life sciences, £6m has also been dedicated to the building of next-generation telecoms networks, such as AI-powered mobile networks and satellite-driven non-terrestrial internet networks for better cyber resilience.
“It’s crucial that British and Japanese scientific and commercial partnerships continue to flourish,” noted UK Science Minister Lord Vallance. “The prizes include new therapies for diseases that were previously considered untreatable.“
The broader agreement will boost UK trade by £33bn on both sides and supports the global pharmaceutical supply chain and turning genomic discoveries into clinical applications faster.
