CEO Update: Monday 15 January

I had a productive few days in San Francisco at the JP Morgan and Biotech Showcase events last week. Alongside Genomics England and MedCity, the BIA co-sponsored a panel discussion ‘Generation Genome and Industrial Strategy: Leveraging UK Leadership in Genomics’. Representatives from Genomics England, technology partners, SMEs and the venture community all contributed to a very insightful and fascinating debate the opportunities and challenges that will shape the growth of the UK’s genomics industry and its impact worldwide.

Later on, I spoke at the Department for International Trade’s networking reception, where Professor Joanne Hackett, Chief Commercial Officer at Genomics England, took the opportunity to raise the profile of their Discovery Forum, which is open to new members.

At the event, it was great to discuss the news that BIA members AbbVie, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Biogen and Pfizer are all partnering with Regeneron to sequence the exomes of the 500,000 people whose DNA samples are stored in the UK Biobank. The consortium aims to complete this mammoth task by 2019, and to make the data publicly available in 2020. This will turn the UK Biobank into the single biggest treasure-trove of genetic data on the planet, and further cement the UK as the world leader in genomics.

Back in the UK, on Monday and Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May conducted the much-anticipated and speculated ministerial reshuffle. While Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Business Secretary Greg Clark were rumoured to be moved, both remain in their roles. Hunt’s job title now includes social care and his department has been renamed to the Department of Health and Social Care. Justine Greening stepped down as Education Secretary and has been replaced by Damian Hinds. Damian Green’s role as Deputy PM will not be filled at present.

Among the junior ministers, Jo Johnson made a lateral move to the Department for Transport and has been replaced by Sam Gyimah as the Universities and Science minister. In the Treasury, Robert Jenrick has replaced Andrew Jones as the minister responsible for the Patient Capital Review. The team and I will engage with the new ministers at the earliest opportunity. To see all the changes and the key ministerial roles for our sector, see the BIA Guide to Government.

January’s Brexit briefing webinar will be taking place this Friday at 4pm. The webinars were highly popular last year, and we had very positive feedback, so I’d urge you all to tune in and catch up with the latest developments and key things to look out for in 2018. You can register here. You can also watch our previous webinars in the Brexit briefing series on our YouTube channel.

And finally, the 2018 BIA Gala Dinner is now only ten days away. There’s still enough time to purchase the final individual ticket(s) if you’d like to come, but very few are left so register here before they sell out. You can also take advantage of our Biotech and the City afternoon event, where we’ll be launching our annual BIA/Informa Annual Finance Report, to extend the networking, attend our panel discussion and get ready for the evening. Register here.

Best,

Steve.