CEO Update: Monday 18th September

I was thrilled to see the launch of our new website go so smoothly last week, and I’d encourage everyone to take a look and familiarise yourself with some of the new functionality. One of the most useful functions is the ability for members to upload their news and job vacancies directly to our site, for the BIA team to approve and publish. Do take the opportunity to raise the profile of your organisation on the new BIA website. 

It was great to see so many members at our BIA networking lunch in Oxford on Thursday. Thanks to Dr Kyriacos Mitrophanous of Oxford Biomedica for hosting and speaking and to Dr Michael Stein of Oxstem for updates on exciting developments at their companies – at very different stages of development.

This week we’ve published new data from polling of NHS staff that the BIA had commissioned, to see how aware healthcare professionals are of the Accelerated Access Review, as well as previous government initiatives for improving the adoption of innovation across the NHS. The data reveals that the majority of health care professionals hadn’t heard of them. Sadly, this polling echoes the findings of the BIA report published earlier this year, Now More Than Ever: Seizing the opportunity to make the UK a world leader in the life sciences, which called on the incoming government  to commit to implementing the recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review in their manifestos. The report found that despite the efforts of successive governments to support the UK life science sector and encourage uptake of innovation, policies have not been fully implemented or led to lasting change.  With the government stating last week that it anticipates publishing a formal response to the Accelerated Access Review by the end of October, we’ll be pressing the need for it to be effectively communicated throughout the NHS.

On Brexit, you may have caught Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary writing a personal view manifesto in the Telegraph this week. Although it didn’t go down very well with all his cabinet colleagues it was interesting to see him rightly highlight the potential of gene therapy as an industry of the future for the UK, even if his analysis of what he cited as the key driver to enable us to lengthen our lead (freedom from EU regimes) is not one widely advocated by the sector.

In his piece he wrote “One of the advantages of investing in the NHS – if we combine that investment with reform – is that we can turbo charge the role of our health service in driving bioscience. The NHS is a national asset whose data banks record the dizzying range of diseases that our flesh is heir to. Freed from EU regimes – often cumbersome and hard to change - we will be able to accelerate our work on gene therapy – an infant science, now taking its first faltering steps, whose potential is gigantic. Britain is already at the forefront of this, and we can lengthen our lead.”

On Brexit, the UK Government has asked the BIA, and other trade associations, for expert information, evidence and case studies to support the negotiation process.  As the process moves forward this will continue and therefore BIA is bringing together a list of member companies who are happy to receive requests for information.  Please contact Laura at [email protected] if you would like to join this list.

Finally, I’d also like to remind you all to vote in our BIA board elections, which are now open. It is wonderful to see so many talented individuals standing, and we’d encourage everyone to take a look at their profiles and submit your votes.

Best,

Steve.