Running a UK life science business in the COVID-19 pandemic Webinar

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.

Michael Warren

Strategic Policy Advisor, BIA

Michael joined the BIA in September to lead our policy and public affairs work on Brexit. He has extensive experience spanning a wide range of senior government and communications roles, most recently as a member of the executive team at Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.

Dr Eliot Forster

Chief Executive Officer, F-Star

Eliot has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore from 2015 and prior to that was Chief Executive Officer of the biotechnology companies Creabilis Therapeutics (now Sienna Biopharmaceuticals) and Solace Pharmaceuticals Inc. Other previous roles include Head of Development and Operations for the EU and Asia at Pfizer. Eliot has held a number of non-executive Director roles and is currently non-executive Chairman of Avacta plc. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor of the Pharmacology and Physiology Department at the University of Liverpool, a Board member of OSCHR (Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research), MedCity and the National Genomics Board. He holds a PhD from University of Liverpool and an MBA from Henley Management College.