Board elections - corporate candidate statements
Corporate members
Lisa Anson
Lisa Anson has been Chief Executive Officer of Redx Pharma Ltd, since 2018.
Lisa was President of AstraZeneca UK from 2012 and has significant leadership experience in global pharmaceuticals. Over a 20-year career at AstraZeneca plc, Lisa has held a number of senior commercial and general management roles in both the US and the UK including Global Vice President, Oncology and as Vice President of emerging brands where she worked closely with the Research and Development teams.
Lisa holds an MBA (awarded with distinction) from INSEAD, France and a First Class honours degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University in the UK. Upon graduating she joined KPMG in London as a management consultant and then moved to the US where she worked for a California based cancer disease management company, prior to joining Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (USA) in 1998 as a business development manager.
Lisa joined the Board of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) in 2012, chaired a number of UK industry committees and worked closely with Government and a wide range of industry stakeholders. She then became the first female President of the ABPI, a position from which she stepped down in 2018, and she was elected to the Board of the BIA in 2018.
Lisa believes that her leadership and experience can make a difference to the UK Biotech industry, which was a key reason that she moved to lead the turnaround at Redx in 2018. At Redx she has successfully secured new specialist investors, taken two programmes into clinic, secured major partnership deals for four assets and has recently taken the Company private. She was recognized in 2022 at the European Mediscience CEO of the Year. She has continued to advocate for the Biotech sector and was individually asked to join the Life Sciences Vision External Advisory Group and is regularly asked to speak at conferences and industry discussions. Lisa is one of few commercially experienced leaders in the UK biotech sector and she is keen to remain on the Board of the BIA and represent small company CEO perspectives.
Fran Crawford
I am the co-founder of ViaNautis Bio, a next generation genetic nanomedicine company with a proprietary polymer platform technology. I led the Vianautis $25m series A funding in 2023 through a syndicate of VCs, two corporate venture pharmas, a large US charity and existing angel investors.
I am serial entrepreneur and driven leader who has served on public and private company boards for over 30 years as both executive and non-executive director bringing broad corporate and technical experience to develop growth strategies for biotech companies.
I am a PhD pharmacologist who has been closely involved in the growth of multiple other life science businesses including Altacor (ophthalmology) as CEO and founder, Spirogen (oncology) and Sirus Pharmaceuticals (CNS delivery) and thus have a wide range of therapeutic experience. Holding senior posts in several start-up businesses I have built IP portfolios to add value and protection to product pipelines. For ten years I was responsible for growing hospital and retail sales teams to commercialise products in a Specialty Pharma setting. I have pioneered M&A deals and created exits for the benefit of investors and shareholders.
Having such wide pharmaceutical and business experience I think I have a lot to offer the BIA board. I would like to give diverse input to enable company growth and also contribute to policy. I believe that having a strong and forceful voice at the government table is hugely important in ensuring a positive funding climate and ultimately the ability to commercialise UK science globally. Fostering and accelerating life science innovation is an important goal which I feel well suited to contribute to.
Mike Hannay
Mike has had a long and storied career working in major pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, the NHS and academia. He qualified as a pharmacist, moving into ever more senior roles in the global pharmaceutical industry, at Sanofi, UCB and Teva before joining Astra Zeneca to head-up their CMC organization. He left AZ to lead a UK based division for Thermo-Fisher, before moving into national innovation roles in the NHS which brought together academia, industry and social care organizations to improve health outcomes. He joined Bicycle in 2021 to lead the construction of the company’s product development capabilities and supply chain.
Mike has had close links with academia for many years, working in a wide variety of advisory roles including Visiting and Honorary Professorships at Durham, De Montfort and Leicester universities. He is passionate about shaping life science policy, as evidenced by his roles in Medilink, the National Centre for Rural Health and Care, the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Mike is known as an influential change-maker. He is only happy when carefully crafted policy translates into action, and he is immensely skilled at bringing to the table multiple stakeholders, often with very different perspectives. Whilst being an advocate for the causes about which he is passionate, Mike is also an empathetic listener and has a rare skill in helping diverse groups find common solutions.
For his potential role supporting the BIA, Mike would bring credibility born of his enormous experience, along with a positive and engaging style that helps him bring the right people together to tackle what can seem to be intractable problems. He is passionate about the opportunities to scale UK biotech working with government to build the next generation of large scale biopharmaceutical companies.
Serena Kern-Libera
I am delighted to submit my nomination for the BIA Advisory Board. With a career spanning biotechnology, law, government, regulatory policy, and finance, I bring a unique and multifaceted view that I believe would add significant value to the BIA.
My journey began as a corporate lawyer at Slaughter and May, advising clients in the pharma and health sectors. From there, I transitioned into regulatory policy, serving as Head of Global Trade Strategy at the Bank of England, where I led efforts to navigate the complex trade environment post-Brexit. I later joined HM Treasury as Head of Market Access and also served as Private Secretary to the Chancellor. These roles provided me with extensive experience in strategic decision-making, and an understanding of what drives government policy, regulatory frameworks, and market dynamics—all critical for the evolving biotech landscape.
As Founder and COO of LinkGevity, an AI-driven drug discovery biotech, I would bring a unique perspective to the BIA. Our work sits at the intersection of AI and Longevity, and I’m deeply involved in the startup ecosystem, navigating the challenges of innovation, funding, and scaling. I understand the unique experiences of young female founders. Our diverse therapeutic offering has attracted interest from big pharma, life science companies and even NASA, where we were one of 8 companies selected for the Starburst Space-H program, exploring novel therapeutics for space health and bioengineering in space. We’ve also secured Horizon Europe funding for our AI platform, which further broadens my understanding of the global innovation landscape.
My experience leading a diverse, high-impact company, combined with my personal journey as a female entrepreneur, gives me a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges within the biotech industry, which I believe can provide valuable insights to BIA.
Beyond my professional background, I am a strong advocate for diversity of thought. I founded Discover2Dream, an initiative that provides students with access to role models and career opportunities, ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard and valued. I have also served on the Boards of several organisations and charities including SkillSonics AG, and have contributed positively to the strategic direction of those organisations, bringing a fresh voice and perspective.
I am eager to bring my commitment and voice to the BIA Board, where I hope to represent a broad spectrum of member interests while pushing forward the innovative spirit of the biotech industry.
Simon Kerry
I would like to nominate myself to stand as a Corporate member on the BIA Board. I have been engaged in the life science sector for 40 years with a career including pharma, biotech, research institutes and at venture capital; I have worked at the bench, in operations management, business development, as a CEO and in investment. My career has primarily been in the UK but includes positions in Sweden (Active Biotech) and Belgium (Ablynx). I believe that the breadth of my experience will allow me to make a valuable contribution the BIA Board and represent the interests and challenges of, in particular, preclinical biotechs.
For the last eighteen years I have held CEO and Executive Chairman positions in UK biotechs (Karus, Aleta, Itara, Encipher, and my current position at Curve Therapeutics) that, alongside my time as an Operating Partner at Advent, has given me a strong insight and experience of the challenges of funding and growing UK biotechs.
In addition to these executive roles, I have also held non-executive (Celleron) and chair (Argonaut) roles within UK biotech companies and, of relevance to the BIA board, on both the advisory board and management board of MedCity (London), where my role was to represent the interests of early-stage biotech within a very academic-focused initiative.
I have engaged with the BIA since 1997 and was part of the emerging company committee in 2011/2012, from which Will West and I established an angel investment forum for early-stage biotechs. Under the current management team, the BIA has established a strong platform to represent the interests of the UK bioscience sector, and I would like to have the opportunity to support the team and the organisation through membership of the board.
A summary of my career history can be found on LinkedIn.
Sarah Korman
Sarah Korman is General Counsel and Head of Business Operations at Isomorphic Labs, an Alphabet company launched from Google DeepMind in 2021 with a mission to advance human health through AI-first drug design. Sarah brings strong business acumen and broad legal experience from the biotechnology industry. She was previously Chief Legal Officer at Absci, General Counsel at Neuvogen, Head of Intellectual Property for Final Drug Products at Amgen, and held roles specialising in intellectual property at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the World Intellectual Property Organization and in private practice. Sarah earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry and metallurgical/materials engineering, a PhD in materials science and engineering (nanotechnology), and her Juris Doctorate with Certificate in Intellectual Property Law. Sarah is a U.S. National Science Foundation Fellow and an inventor on various patents directed to nano-enabled therapeutics and drug delivery technologies. Sarah is passionate about the enormous potential for AI to improve drug discovery and advance a new era of medical breakthroughs. Sarah values collaboration, is inspired by diverse perspectives and is a strong advocate for responsible AI policy. In the capacity of a NED, Sarah would share a wealth of experience, partnership, energy and strategic thinking to the BIA Board.
Tim Mitchell
I am a biotech founder-exec with a long (>35yr) and varied background in leadership, business and research gained from working in large pharma (SmithKline Beecham), international biotech (Millennium Pharmaceuticals) and service (Cambridge Discovery Chemistry) companies. I co-founded Sareum, a small molecule therapeutics company, ~20 years ago and have been CEO until earlier this year, when I took a step back to the role of part-time COO. This has given me the opportunity to explore other roles, such as BIA Board membership.
Recently, I have been working alongside colleagues at the BIA to address a number of key challenges for UK biotech, particularly with HMRC’s change in applying the rules for EIS/VCT eligibility, which has hampered the availability of capital for early-stage companies (for which we now have some sort of resolution), and the ongoing difficulties with the MHRA . I would welcome the opportunity to expand this work on issues affecting UK life sciences as a BIA Board Director.
My company, Sareum, listed on AIM in 2004, where we have succeeded on a combination of equity placements, licence income, R&D service revenue and Biomedical Catalyst/UKRI grant funding. During this time, we have taken two small molecule programmes, one in cancer, the other in autoimmune disease, from first concept through to early clinical studies, working alongside Cancer Research UK and other research collaborators. One of these clinical programmes was licenced to Sierra Oncology (now GSK) in a $300M deal.
I believe my long experience as a biotech exec would be a useful asset to the BIA Board and its membership, particularly in assisting campaigns to influence government policy affecting smaller, early-stage companies, whilst my wide experience in pharma, biotech, and service companies gives me a good understanding of the issues affecting other members of the life science ecosystem.
Chris Williams
I have had the privilege to work in the UK life sciences sector for over 20 years. I am passionate about promoting our leading research, manufacturing and development capabilities. I have first-hand experience of how our innovations in cell and gene therapy can lead to new medicines with life transforming potential for patients.
Currently, I am the Chief Business Officer of Autolus Therapeutics. I was part of the team that founded Autolus in 2014, and initially served on the Company’s board as a Non-Executive Director. In 2016, I transitioned into the Company to establish Autolus’ Business Development function.
Autolus has its roots in the UK life sciences ecosystem. I am responsible our long-standing strategic partnership with UCL, where we have run multiple phase 1 studies, and I helped establish our partnership with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult where we manufacture for our clinical studies.
I have also led strategic biotech and pharma partnerships. Recently we announced our BioNTech partnership, which serves to advance both companies’ CAR T programs and including the potential to manufacturing for BioNTech at our state-of-the-art Nucleus facility in Stevenage. I am also responsible for establishing partnerships with Moderna, BMS, and Cabaletta. On the corporate financing front, I have supported private rounds, our Nasdaq IPO, follow-on offerings and an asset financing deal with Blackstone Life Sciences with over $1.4Bn in capital raised to date.
In addition to my role at Autolus, I am an advisory board member for Deep Science Ventures and NG Bio. Before Autolus, I worked at UCL Business for seven years on licensing, newco formation, translational grant funding and intellectual property, including the foundation of Orchard Therapeutics. Finally, I have worked in BD and research roles at Canbex, Eli Lilly, King’s, GSK, Inpharmatica and Imperial. I hold a PhD in Biochemistry.