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CEO Update | 8 August 2022
UK sector news to celebrate
Summertime can be a quiet time but there has been a string of high-profile announcements within the UK sector to celebrate.
Last week, RoslinCT announced that they have signed a business combination agreement with US advanced therapy CDMO Lykan Biosciences to form a global leading innovative advanced therapies CDMO. MiroBio, a company spun out of the University of Oxford and backed by Oxford Science Enterprises which focuses on antibodies, was acquired by Gilead for $405 million. Further good news in the antibody space as Apollo Therapeutics signed an exclusive license agreement with Avalo Therapeutics granting rights to Apollo to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize AVTX-007 (camoteskimab).
Engaging with the Labour Party
While all eyes may be on who’ll be the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister, our experience from the recent BIA Parliament Day suggests that the Labour Party is busy developing its policies ready for a general election. This includes a review launched by the Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, looking at the environment for start-ups in the UK. We have submitted detailed evidence on the fragile state of financing for innovative young companies, difficulties with technology transfer and the importance of R&D tax credits, among other things. We have made a set of recommendations that the next Labour Government could take forward to support start-ups and continue the growth of our sector.
I am looking forward to a busy autumn engaging with decision-makers in both parties, starting with the Labour Party conference in September.
Biomedical Catalyst Round 2
Next week, Round 2 of the Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) for Industry-led R&D is opening up for the UK registered SMEs, this stream of the BMC supports pre-market R&D projects. Innovate UK will invest up to £25 million to develop innovative solutions to address health or healthcare challenges. BIA was instrumental in securing the launch of the BMC in 2011/12 and we have made its continuation a key campaign focus. We conducted an analysis that demonstrated the economic and scientific impacts of the scheme.
I am taking a summer holiday for the next two weeks, so the excellent BIA team will ensure you are up to date with the latest in the next fortnight, and I’ll return to CEO blog duties in the first week of September when we will know who the new Prime Minister will be.
Steve Bates OBE
CEO, BioIndustry Association