Boris Johnson to suggest creating a "megafund" for biotech firms

25th Jun 2015 11:53

London mayor Boris Johnson on Thursday suggested that banks, investors and drug multinationals should condier creating a £10bn "megafund" to help biotech firms in the country to compete with US rivals.Johnson made the suggestion on the occasion of a conference in London that brought together the leaders of some of the most important industry, finance and research companies, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Silicon Valley Bank, the European Investment Bank and JP Morgan."We hope to harness our role as a global financial centre that will bring more life-saving drugs to market and deliver a huge boost to the economy," Johnson said.UK is home to two of the most important drugmakers worldwide: Astrazeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.