(Bloomberg) -- The Labour Party announced plans it said would increase research and development in Britain’s pharmaceutical industry by £10 billion ($12.7 billion) a year if it comes into power following an election expected later this year. 

The main opposition political party outlined multiple proposals for the life sciences industry on Tuesday, including a Regulatory Innovation Office to hold regulators accountable for delays in bringing innovations to Britain and a plan to unlock pension funds for investment in innovative businesses. 

Labour is seeking to position itself as the party British business should embrace, rather than the incumbent Conservative government, which has been criticized by the pharmaceutical industry for drawn-out negotiations over drug prices which have harmed the investment attractiveness of the UK. 

Read More: Britain’s a Long Way From Becoming a Science Superpower

Other proposals put forward by Labour include plans to more effectively use the massive troves of patient data within the National Health Service and provide a single access point for researchers to use data from all genomic resources. It also wants to set 10-year budgets for institutions such as UK Research and Innovation — compared to the three year budgets currently set. 

Labour’s life sciences plan, unveiled at a laboratory in Stevenage, north of London, on Tuesday, would keep some current conservative policies, such as research and development tax credits, and a continuation of the Life Sciences Council.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.