BioCentury and BIA present: Company building in a COVID-19 world

Simone Fishburn

Editor-in-Chief, BioCentury

Simone serves as Vice President and Editor in Chief of BioCentury, bringing experience from both industry and academia in translational science, where she focused for over 15 years on the scientific, commercial and strategic considerations for advancing laboratory discoveries to products for patients. Since joining BioCentury in 2013, Simone has written and edited on innovation from idea to patient, most recently serving as Executive Editor. Previously, she was a director of translational research at Nektar Therapeutics and a senior managing consultant at Exponent Inc., where she specialized in projects for the biopharma industry. Simone serves as an adviser on multiple university translational programs, including initiatives at the University of California and Stanford University. Simone is also active in programs to advance women's careers; she is a board member of Women In Bio and served as its President in 2013-14. Simone is a Fulbright scholar and performed a post-doc at the University of California San Francisco. She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an M.A. and B.A. in Pharmacology from Cambridge University.

Steve Bates OBE

Chief Executive Officer

What does your role at BIA involve?

Steve Bates is the CEO of the UK Bioindustry Association, the UK’s Trade Association for innovative life science companies with over 550 members. Steve is the visible face of the vibrant UK life sciences industry to government and media. He serves on the UK Government’s Life Sciences Council and the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council. Steve was a founder member of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce in the Covid crisis, sitting on its steering Board alongside Kate Bingham. He is active member and former chair the International Council of Biotech Associations and has been a board member of EuropaBio since 2015.

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 is a driving force behind the scale up agenda, spearheading policy agenda to unlock UK pension fund capital into productive UK growth in life sciences. 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 joining the BIA in 2012, Steve worked for Genzyme and was advisor to the UK Government of Tony Blair working on NHS reform and the Northern Ireland peace process. He was made OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.

Charlotte Casebourne

CEO, Theolytics

Charlotte believes in equitable access to effective therapies. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Theolytics - a pre-clinical biotech company harnessing viruses to fight cancer - and has been a BIA Board Member since January 2019. This has included audit committee responsibilities, and the ongoing role of Vice Chair of the BIA's Skills, People and Talent Working Party. Previously Co-founder and Director of New Medicine Partners, Charlotte has worked with organisations spanning three continents to support the early translation of novel life science technologies. She has taken leadership roles including Curator of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers network, Managing Director of HealthTech Women London, and HelloTomorrow’s London Chair for Healthcare and Medical Technologies. Charlotte graduated as a University of Cambridge Bioscience Enterprise M.Phil Scholar and was a shortlisted finalist for Cambridge Entrepreneur of the Year. She was most recently named one of Forbes 30 Under 30, and In Vivo’s 30 Rising Leaders in Life Sciences.

Jolyon Martin

Head of Business Development and Co-Founder, PetMedix

Jolyon is co-founder and Head of Business Development at PetMedix, a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company developing antibody-based therapeutics for companion animals. PetMedix is based on Jolyon's PhD work in the laboratory of Prof Allan Bradley FRS, who is CSO and co-founder of both PetMedix and Kymab Ltd. At PetMedix, Jolyon is responsible for external partnerships and licensing, and led the work to secure their recent partnership deal with Boehringer Ingelheim. He also works alongside the CEO and executive team to shape commercial strategy and the company’s future direction. Balancing his studies at the University of Cambridge with an interest in start-ups and entrepreneurship, Jolyon worked with the founding team of Simprints for a year and also for Horizon Discovery in both Boston, MA and Cambridge, UK. He was part of the first BIA PULSE Cohort, was named Cambridge Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017, and was a finalist in Onestart 2014. Jolyon is passionate about diversity and representation, and volunteers with the Beyond Equality Initiative - running workshops on tackling toxic masculinity in university sports teams.

Julie Simmonds

Equity Research Analyst, Healthcare, Panmure Gordon

Julie joined Panmure Gordon in 2015 and has 20 years’ experience in Life Sciences research across a wide range of Healthcare subsectors. She previously worked at Canaccord Genuity, Piper Jaffray and Nomura having started her City career at Beeson Gregory, where she became Head of Lifesciences research. Julie has a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Kent and industry experience in both Europe and the US. She is also a panel member for NIHR i4i (invention for innovation), assessing early stage medical technologies.