The UK government should establish a standing pharmaceutical expert advisory panel, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The panel should include ministers, civil servants and representatives from industry and academia, and be led by an independent Chair with experience of working in a relevant industry. The panel's role should be to: oversee the UK's preparedness to develop, procure and manufacture pharmaceuticals (vaccines and therapeutics) in the event of a pandemic or health emergency, assisting with cross-government strategy development; ensure that the UK government and devolved administrations, their agencies, industry and academia are aligned around shared goals in developing vaccines and therapeutics for pandemic diseases; oversee strong links between government and the pharmaceutical industry; advise the UK government on how to incentivise pharmaceutical companies to invest in manufacturing facilities and research in the UK; and advise the UK government on its research investments, with a view to ensuring a diverse portfolio of pharmaceutical research in the UK. During a pandemic, the panel should form the basis of specialist taskforces, which would be responsible for securing and developing medical interventions and leading on their procurement on behalf of the four nations of the UK. They should have sufficient autonomy, delegation and direct access to senior ministers, similar to that which worked well in the Covid-19 pandemic.