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BIA Webinar: AMR New Horizons – Solutions to the threat of antimicrobial resistance
With the number of AMR infections continuing to increase, and forecasts indicating that as many people could die of AMR as die of cancer, our latest webinar will explore the challenges and provide an update on progress being made to reduce the threat and find solutions.
These include increasing public awareness to help change behaviour through patient storytelling, new funding streams for the development of drugs and diagnostics, innovative reimbursement models to change the risk-reward profile and encourage pharma and biotechs and their investors to invest R&D to identify novel drugs and game-changing diagnostics.
Join us and our expert panel of speakers as they discuss their experiences and potential solutions to the urgent challenge of AMR.
John Alter
John joined the Fund as Head of External Affairs after spending almost 25 years at Pfizer Inc., where he was involved in multiple facets of antibiotic drug development and sales. He contributed to shaping the world’s first subscription model for antibiotics and worked on several other innovative contracts during his tenure with Pfizer. Immediately prior to joining the Fund, he was the Vice President of Patient and Health Impact for Pfizer’s hospital business unit, which covered a portfolio of 170 molecules, including 50 medicines on the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicine List and dozens of anti-infective and anti-fungal drugs, as well as ten different drug-delivery systems. The work of John’s team encompassed pricing, access, reimbursement, health economics, outcomes research and real world data collection and analysis. He holds an MBA from George Mason University and a BS from Villanova University.
Sue Charles
A biotechnology entrepreneur and communications professional, Sue has over three decades of experience in the life sciences industry. Passionate about helping to translate bioscience innovations into commercial and investor success, Sue’s global experience covers advising early stage private to large multinational companies, supporting clients as they grow, including through successful financings both privately and on public markets. She has experience across breath of technology and therapeutic areas, including AMR. Through her consultancy business, Charles Consultants (Life Sciences), she advises senior executives and boards of life sciences companies, venture firms and science-led organisations providing strategic communications counsel. She also serves on the Board of private genomics tools company, RevoluGen, where she is also part-time head of corporate communications, and is a senior strategic advisor for Consilium Strategic Communications and Scius Communications. She is a founding member of the WHO Taskforce of AMR Survivors and serves on the Strategic Advisory Council of PACE. Widely recognised for pioneering the life sciences communications sector in the UK, Sue has founded, grown and led notable business communications consultancies including De Facto, Northbank, College Hill Life Sciences and Instnctif Partners (Healthcare & Life Sciences), building and leading teams in the UK, Germany, Australia and the USA. Previous part-time executive roles have included as Industry Engagement Manager at the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney and as CEO of a biotech spin-out from UCL. She has served on the Board of the UK BioIndustry Association (2018-2020) and as charity board trustee for the Jane Goodall Institute (UK) (2009 – 2011). Sue has a first-class degree and MA in Biochemistry from Oxford University, PhD-level research experience in molecular biology from Leicester University and an MBA from Cranfield Business School.
Nick Crabb
Nick had a 20-year career in analytical science, process technology and general management in the chemical, pharmaceutical and contract laboratory industries prior to joining NICE in 2010. His initial role was to establish and manage the Diagnostics Assessment Programme and he was later appointed Programme Director, Scientific Affairs. Nick currently oversees NICE’s Science, Evidence and Analytics Directorate. He has broad scientific and policy interests relating to the evaluation of technologies and interventions to support the development of clinical, public health and social care guidance. His experience includes consideration of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) issues arising from the availability of novel new products such as cell and gene therapies and work on methods issues relating to the evaluation of antimicrobials. Nick was the NICE lead on a collaborative pilot project with NHS England to develop and test innovative models for the evaluation and purchase of antimicrobials. Nick also has interests around the alignment of regulatory and HTA processes and collaborates closely with national and international regulators.
Beverley Isherwood
Dr Beverley Isherwood, Strategy Leader, Medicines Discovery Catapult, is responsible for providing strategic and scientific leadership across MDC's infectious diseases portfolio, including PACE and the CF AMR Syndicate. As a Programme Director for PACE, Dr Isherwood oversees its strategic direction, deployment and operational translation. PACE and the CF AMR Syndicate, delivered through partnership, aim to convene the sector around unmet needs in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to help innovators with antimicrobial projects move forward with greater speed and confidence, ultimately accelerating the delivery of new innovations to tackle AMR. Dr Isherwood brings 20 years’ experience in medicines discovery working in or at the interface with private, public and charity partners to advance R&D for patient impact. Dr Isherwood is an Associate Editor for SLAS Discovery and holds an MA (Natural Sciences) from Cambridge University and a PhD in Molecular Virology from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.
Deborah O'Neil
A biotechnology entrepreneur and immunologist by training, Deborah has over two decades of experience in drug discovery and development. Deborah studied at University College London and then worked in postdoctoral positions in internationally acclaimed laboratories in San Diego and Ghent before moving to Aberdeen (to the Rowett Research Institute, now part of the University of Aberdeen) where she founded NovaBiotics in 2004. NovaBiotics is now a global biotechnology business with a portfolio of first-in-class solutions for unmet health and personal care needs, all of which have been developed from proprietary technology based on how the innate immune system maintains healthy tissue. Deborah chairs the life science sector board of Opportunity North East and the BioAberdeen Ltd board. She also chairs the UK’s Medicines Discovery Catapult-Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Trust’s antimicrobial resistance syndicate. Deborah was a board member of the UK’s BioIndustry Association and continues to work with them on antimicrobial resistance. She was a member of the Scottish Life Sciences Industry Leadership Group and is a member of the Scottish Life Sciences Association advisory board. Deborah is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. She is an honorary professor of the University of Aberdeen and in 2023, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Robert Gordon University. Named as one of the 20 women leaders in European biotech in 2019, one of the 30 top female leaders in UK Healthcare in 2018, Deborah was made OBE in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours list, for services to biotechnology, industry and charity.
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