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CEO Update - 11 March 2024
Spring Budget 2024 – key life science announcements
The Chancellor's Budget last week had plenty for UK life sciences. The BIA’s mission to unlock pension funds for investment into UK life sciences took a great leap forward with the announcement that the life sciences team of Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) has successfully partnered with Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest pensions provider, with the support of the Government’s Long-term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative.
Many of you joined our engaging webinar on "Life sciences and politics in Spring 2024," where we dissected the latest news with the BIA's Martin Turner. You can now catch up on the key takeaways in this excellent blog post and watch the recording for a deeper dive.
All the Spring Budget documents and the Chancellor’s speech can be found on the Treasury website.
The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic four years ago today
As the pandemic recedes into the rearview mirror of recent history it was good to hear Kate Bingham on the BBC Radio 4's Today program this morning give a realistic assessment of where we are now as a country. Kate’s interview starts two hours 38 minutes into the show. This week we've also seen the draft negotiating text for a pandemic agreement published online by KEI, the discussion of this text will continue until the World Health Assembly and I am attending an all-party parliamentary group meeting today where I will be stressing the importance of practical measures to scale up production and distribution are at the front of any future agreement.
New Chair for TenU
Congratulations to Tim Haines who has been appointed the new Chair of TenU. TenU is an international collaboration formed to capture effective practices in research commercialisation and share these with governments and higher education communities. Its members work together to increase the societal impact of research.
BIA in Cambridge, Scotland and Brussels this week
It's a really busy week of meetings and I'm really sorry that commitments to EuropaBio in Brussels keep me from both Scotland’s Life Sciences Annual Awards and Dinner and our excellent Women in Biotech networking event scheduled tomorrow for Cambridge. It's great to see the vibrancy of our sector around the country and I know the networks that are being built will stand all participants in good stead for the future.
Deep dive into Deep Biotech at IBioIC
Join the BIA’s Linda Bedenik and George Caterer at the IBioIC 10th anniversary conference, the UK's biggest industrial biotech event taking place in Glasgow on 13 and 14 March. Catch us at our stand with our sponsors throughout the conference, we’ll be showcasing our Deep Biotech report at the Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum (IBLF) and attending the Scottish life sciences dinner. It's the perfect opportunity to discuss the future of Deep Biotech and how we can work together to unlock its potential.
Read our latest blog on the concept of Deep Biotech and how advancements in biotechnology offer solutions to sustainability challenges like plastic waste and fossil fuel reliance.
Jobs at BIA
Have you looked at the BIA's jobs board recently? Not only are there some great opportunities amongst member companies but we are also hiring. If you fancy a role with a bird's eye view across the sector delivering real impact in a not-for-profit format, we'd love to hear from you.
Steve Bates OBE
CEO, BioIndustry Association