Navigating the US biosecurity landscape: Impact on UK life sciences
Are recent US developments in biotechnology and national security impacting UK companies? This webinar explores the implications of the BIOSECURE Act and President Biden's Executive Order on data privacy, including genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data and financial data.
If the BIOSECURE bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of Select Committee Members in the US Senate and the House goes through, it could severely impact US companies’ ability and desire to contract with biotechnology entities from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Moreover, the bill also specifically names certain companies related to the People’s Republic of China —BGI, MGI, Complete Genomics, WuXi AppTec, and their affiliates—as companies of concern.
How are UK life science companies responding to these developments and what does it mean for our ecosystem?
Join us on this webinar to learn more about how the environment may change with these developments, and what they mean for UK companies looking to expand and develop overseas.
What does your role at BIA involve?
Steve Bates FMed Sci OBE has been leading the UK Bioindustry Association as CEO since 2012. He currently chairs the International Council of Biotech Associations and has been a board member of EuropaBio since 2015. He sits on the UK’s Life Sciences Council. Steve is the visible face of the vibrant UK life sciences industry to government and media. Steve was a founder member of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce in the Covid crisis, sitting on its steering Board alongside Kate Bingham.
Previous experience & achievements
Steve has championed, with government, effective industrial incentives like the Biomedical Catalyst, which have crowded in private sector investment into UK SMEs. He has forged several links for the sector across the USA, Europe and in China. In his time at the BIA, Steve has developed new member groups focused on cell and gene therapy, genomics and engineered biology. A strong advocate of partnership working, Steve champions sector collaboration with research charities and academia. Proud to lead an organisation with a diverse Board with over 40% female representation, Steve is committed to next-generation talent and developing the skills needed for the sector to flourish. Before the BIA, Steve worked for Genzyme and was an advisor to the UK Government of Tony Blair. He was made OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.
Dr Richard Mason is CEO of Apollo Therapeutics, a UK/US portfolio biopharma company focused on translating fundamental medical research into breakthrough new medicines through a hub-and-spoke approach. Apollo is backed by leading investors including Patient Square Capital and Rock Springs Capital in the USA and M&G in the UK. The Company has a scalable R&D platform for the evergreen discovery and development of new drugs and is developing a large, diversified pipeline of over twenty programs with uncorrelated risk. This is enabled by an unprecedented level of access to five of the world’s leading universities in the UK. Richard has over 20 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including leading Johnson & Johnson Innovation in Europe. Before this, he was CEO of novel anticoagulant antibody company XO1 until the company was acquired by Janssen in March 2015. Previously, Richard was the Chief Business Officer at listed companies BTG Plc and Cambridge Antibody Technology Plc where he led numerous M&A and partnering transactions. Richard received degrees in medicine from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, immunology from University College London, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. He trained in internal medicine in London and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. During 2020, he served on active duty with the British Army in Strategic Command as part of the UK government’s pandemic response, including as a member of the UK Vaccines Task Force.
Matt Wetzel is a U.S. health lawyer and partner in the Life Sciences Regulatory & Compliance practice at Goodwin Procter LLP. Matt provides strategic legal, regulatory, and government affairs advice to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, medical technology manufacturers, and diagnostic testing companies – and their investors and other stakeholders – on a host of issues, ranging from health care fraud, reimbursement and pricing, transparency, to privacy matters, among others. Matt also works with clients to establish and operate effective global compliance and risk management programs. Matt also represents life sciences and health care clients before key federal and state policymakers, including Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the US Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General. Matt is a veteran of the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Goodwin, Matt served as Chief Compliance Officer of GRAIL, the diagnostic testing company; spent several years as Vice President & Deputy General Counsel of AdvaMed, the world’s largest medical technology trade association; and held an executive legal and compliance role at a multinational medical device maker. He is the featured Life Sciences expert contributor to the Washington Legal Foundation where he writes about life sciences, medtech regulation, pharmaceutical issues, healthcare law, and government regulation. Matt lives and works in Washington, D.C., and he received his BA and JD from Georgetown.