BIA update – 12 January 2026

A significant week for the sector as a very busy JPM kicks off in San Francisco with BIA hosting the UK Reception this evening alongside Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Office for Life Sciences (OLS). We’re looking forward to a strong UK presence for 2026 and some positive momentum for the sector, backed by government support. A significant week for BIA too, with the long-awaited announcement of our new CEO.

The deadline for PULSE is next weekend, so get your applications in, and a handful of individual tickets for the Gala Dinner have become available, so contact Heloise McCulla if you want one!

Jane Wall
Managing Director, BIA

Our new CEO

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Professor Chris Molloy as our new Chief Executive Officer, starting in May 2026. Chris will join us from the Medicines Discovery Catapult, where he was the founding CEO.

Chris has over three decades’ experience across the breadth of the life sciences sector, from biopharma to clinical services and diagnostics, venture-backed companies to talent management and data/informatics.

Chris is also a Trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research and chairs the industry advisory Boards for the Greater Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and Health Innovation Manchester. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris was responsible for setting up and leading the Lighthouse Laboratories, delivering the UK’s largest diagnostics programme as well as chairing the UK consortium for the manufacture and scale-up of lateral flow testing.

We look forward to welcoming Chris as our CEO and to working with him to build the next impactful chapter at the BIA.

HDRS CEO announced

Also announced today, friend of the BIA, Dr Melanie Ivarsson, has been named CEO of the Government’s new Health Data Research Service (HDRS). Huge congratulations to Melanie, who previously served as Chief Development Officer at Moderna, overseeing the development of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and taking the company’s mRNA jab from early testing through to large-scale clinical trials and regulatory approval. She also served as head of global clinical operations at Takeda following its acquisition of Shire and previously spent nine years at Pfizer in clinical development. Earlier in her career, she held roles in US drugmaker Eli Lilly’s early clinical development group.

We look forward to working with Melanie, Baroness Blackwood and the HDRS team to ensure that this incredible opportunity really propels UK PLC and unlocks value as we need it to.

UK on the front foot at JPM

The HDRS CEO announcement will add to the positive UK messaging that we will see over the week and to be highlighted at this evening’s UK reception in San Francisco:

• Europe’s strongest life science ecosystem: the UK attracted 40% of all biotech venture capital financing across Europe in 2024. 

• Trade advantage: the UK is the first country to achieve 0% tariffs on pharmaceutical exports to the US, with preferential terms for medtech, via a landmark deal. 

• Great place to do business: the UK is simplifying access to globally-unique data and resources, making regulation, clinical trials, and market entry faster and more streamlined, and investing around 25% more in innovative medicines. 
• Global recognition: the UK as a premier hub for international biotech investment, with London Life Sciences Week as a highlight.

PULSE – deadline this Sunday

The deadline for PULSE, our free three-day leadership and entrepreneurship training programme for up-and-coming life sciences entrepreneurs, is this Sunday, 18 January 2026. If someone you know has a transformative idea for a biotech start-up that would benefit from meeting and learning from previous start-up CEOs and investors, there is still time to submit an application.

The programme, running 16-18 March in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute, has supported nearly 200 aspiring entrepreneurs since 2018. Be sure to read the latest PULSE report, which shines a spotlight on two innovative spinouts and PULSE alumni – Marra Bio and ConsoneAI, both of which have successfully secured funding to advance their groundbreaking research. 

Gala Dinner

The BIA Gala Dinner is just around the corner, taking place at the Roundhouse in Camden on Thursday, 29 January 2026. A small handful of individual tickets are available, so contact Heloise McCulla ASAP!

JPM provides inspiration for mergers and acquisitions

The lead-up to JPM has prompted an increase in sector activity as anticipated, with key member companies presenting this week. We’ll be looking to bring a summary together in the coming days.

Meanwhile, last week, UK biotech Dark Blue Therapeutics, a discovery and development biotech company pioneering the next generation of precision oncology medicines, was acquired by Amgen for up to $840 million. This is solid evidence of the attractiveness of UK science to global pharma.

Ikarovec, which is developing dual-pathway gene therapies for vision-threatening retinal diseases, and VectorBuilder, a global leader in gene delivery technologies, entered into an exclusive worldwide option agreement for VectorBuilder’s novel AAV capsid technology to be used in combination with Ikarovec’s gene therapy candidate IKAR-003 for intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Moreover, bit.bio, Cambridge-based pioneer in next-generation human cell programming, has successfully closed a $50 million Series C funding round led by M&G Investments. This injection of patient capital from a major UK investor represents a significant endorsement for the company and the UK market.

Finally, whispers around Lilly purchasing Ventyx Biosciences were confirmed last week, when the companies inked a $1.2 billion deal. We are keeping a close eye on all the deals that are bound to follow this year…

What is the UK good at?

The BBC Radio 4 programme The Bottom Line last Thursday asked the question “what is the UK good at?”. Their answer was the creative industries and – you guessed it – life sciences. Kate Bingham was there championing the sector and you can hear her from 03:18 explaining why life sciences is on the list and, in particular, referencing the work of our members, including those who came together through the BIA Vaccine Manufacturing Taskforce and the potential of TechBio.

Another great reminder of the collective impact we’re having on the UK and why the BIA continues to be so focused on scale up and new technologies…