MedImmune’s Jane Osbourn announced as new BIA chair alongside new board appointments

The announcement was made at the BIA AGM on Thursday 15^th October 2015, where four new Board members were elected and one member re-elected. The newly elected and re-elected Board members will serve from 1 January 2016 for a term of three years.

New BIA chair Dr Jane Osbourn said: “It has been my privilege to serve as a member of the BIA Board since January 2014 and I am delighted to be taking over as Chair during a period of such great opportunity for our industry. I am also very pleased to welcome our newly elected Board members, who are recognised leaders and bring a diversity of ideas and backgrounds to the team.”

“I look forward to working with Steve and the BIA team to help us all achieve our bold vision for the UK life sciences sector.”

Steve Bates, BIA chief Executive said: “2015 has been a great year for the industry and I look forward to working with Jane and the Board to build on this success in 2016. I am confident that our multi-disciplined and diverse board will help to steer the industry through future challenges and represent the interests of all sizes of company in our sector.”

“I would also like to thank Ed who has done a fantastic job in leading the BIA Board to support the UK as a leader in global biotech.”

Edward Hodgkin, exiting BIA chair, said: “I would like to thank all of the Board members for their support over the last two years and it has been a pleasure to see the organisation and our industry move from strength to strength. I look forward to working with Jane and the new Board members as we work towards achieving the BIA’s vision.”

New Board members

Corporate Members:

• Dr Darrin Disley, Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Discovery Group
• David Hipkiss, Chief Business Officer, Circassia Pharmaceuticals
• Dr Andrew Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer, Peptinnovate
• Dr Neil Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Redx Pharma

Other Members:

• Dr Celia Caulcott, Vice-Provost (Enterprise), UCL Business (RE-ELECTED)

Standing Down

• Dr Edward Hodgkin, Chief Executive Officer, Autolus (standing down as chairman but remaining on the Board)

Directors resigning from the BIA Board

• Dr Harren Jhoti, President and Chief Executive Officer, Astex Pharmaceuticals
• Patrick Verheyen, Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation

For further information on the BIA Board go to http://www.bioindustry.org/about/bia-organisation/