15 December 2025

BIA update – 15 December 2025

Our final blog of 2025 celebrates some excellent fundraising news to close the year, while highlighting key opportunities to engage with and shape the UK life sciences agenda — including the development of UK engineering biology, data policy, a cross-cancer research policy position, and salary benchmarking.

With the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference fast approaching, we also look ahead to opportunities to connect internationally. Join us at the UK reception in San Francisco on Monday evening, take part in wider UK activity across the week and explore opportunities to join the UK/BIA delegation to Swiss Biotech Day in May.

Jane Wall
Managing Director, BIA

Celebrating success

A big win for our member Relation came on Tuesday when a multi-program, strategic collaboration with Novartis to discover and advance novel targets for atopic diseases was announced. The company also announced a further $26 million investment from existing investors NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm) and deeptech investors DCVC and Magnetic Ventures.

And that wasn’t all. Cellular Origins, a TTP company that enables the manufacturing of cell therapies at scale, completed a $40 million over-subscribed Series A round last week. The Series A financing was led by Johnson & Johnson, through its corporate venture capital organisation, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., and the syndicate comprises Highland Europe, BGF, NYBC Ventures, and TTP Group. Together, these investors have a proven track record across life sciences, manufacturing automation and scaling global businesses. You can read more about Cellular Origins in the report, UK cell and gene therapy: driving efficiencies and innovation, launched last week.

Engineering Biology Infrastructure Programme (EBIP)

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has launched pre-market engagement on the Engineering Biology Infrastructure Programme (EBIP).

The Industrial Strategy committed £184 million to tackling the UK’s infrastructure scale-up challenge for engineering biology. This was a major BIA policy ask back in 2024, so we are really pleased to see the commitment move towards implementation.

This engagement will begin with an information webinar on Friday at 12-12.30 pm, followed by two workshops during the week commencing 12 January, which the DSIT is encouraging stakeholders from across engineering biology to attend. Please contact Maddie to find out more.

Accessing the national UK cohort data

It’s been great to work with UK Biobank and Our Future Health this year to get more SMEs using these resources. We attended the UK Biobank conference last Monday, which featured a dedicated session for SMEs. Please get in touch with Emma if you would like more information.

We would also like to encourage you to complete this survey on data linkage. This is a key opportunity to shape UK Biobank’s Data Linkage Strategy moving forward.

Last week, we also hosted a webinar with Our Future Health, which showcased the breadth of the resource, including the data you can access and its ability to support clinical trials. Watch the webinar recording to catch up.

Compensation benchmarking

We have been encouraging UK biotech companies to participate in the Thelander survey to help build a robust UK dataset and enable meaningful comparison with global benchmarks.

For organisations looking to inform their 2026 remuneration planning, take part in this survey by Friday, 9 January, to get access to real-time compensation data across your organisation. Participants will also receive a year-end report covering salary increase percentages, bonus factors and award levels.

Shaping global standards for responsible innovation

BIA attended an OECD multistakeholder workshop in Paris to discuss 'Recommendation on a framework for responsible innovation and anticipatory governance of emerging biotechnologies'.

Biotech and engineering biology have great potential to deliver social and economic benefits. Beyond improved healthcare, biosolutions are reshaping food, agriculture, chemicals, materials and biofuels, powering both economic growth and the transition to net zero.

This multi-stakeholder workshop was co-convened by the OECD and the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to explore what shared international standards need to be agreed to help realise these benefits. It’s great to see the UK leading this conversation on the global stage. International cooperation is crucial, and BIA is working at all levels to ensure that policies are designed by countries and multilateral organisations like the OECD to help, not hinder, innovation. We’re looking forward to taking the agenda forward at BioSolutions UK next year.

Farewell to Blood Cancer UK

As a final farewell to our Charity Partner of the Year 2025, Blood Cancer UK, we are asking our members to help the organisation, alongside Cancer 52 and the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, develop a cross-cancer research policy position to inform the new NHS 10-year plan, the upcoming National Cancer Plan and wider UK policy discussions on rare, less common and less survivable cancers.

You may have already received the survey from other charities, in which case, there is no need to complete it again. If you haven't yet, please complete the survey by 24 December.

UK at JPM 2026

To maximise global investment exposure during JPM week, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) are compiling the official UK@JPM2026 innovator lookbook, a strategic catalogue distributed to key global investors, VCs and health systems. If you are a UK biotech SME or a techbio company attending the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on 12-15 January 2026 in San Francisco and seeking investment or partnership opportunities, we would like to encourage you to submit your company details to be featured in the lookbook.

We also invite you to join us for an exclusive reception, hosted by the UK government in partnership with BIA, taking place on Monday, 12 January 2026, at 6.30 - 8:30 pm at the Marines’ Memorial Club (11th Floor, Crystal Ballroom, 609 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102). This is the premier opportunity to connect and network with fellow UK innovators, global investors and international partners, stimulating new collaborations within the UK’s vibrant life sciences and health research ecosystem.

Swiss Biotech Day

Join us at Swiss Biotech Day 2026. For the first time, the UK will have a dedicated booth in the Global Village at Swiss Biotech Day – one of Europe’s leading biotech conferences. UK innovation will be showcased on a global stage, giving our sector the chance to connect with Swiss and international biotech leaders and life sciences clusters. Please contact Miriam Gedge if you are interested in joining us.

Included in the UK delegation:

A discounted ticket for Swiss Biotech; the option to participate in the Eureka Global Innovation Summit on 6 May;
Access to a side programme, including visits to leading Swiss biotech clusters;
Opportunity to apply for pitching sessions to showcase your innovation.

As we wrap up 2025, we want to thank our members, partners and the wider BIA ecosystem for your continued support and collaboration throughout the year. Our offices will be closed from 24 December until 2 January, and the next edition of BIA Update and Newscast will be back on 5 January 2026.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a successful start to the new year — we look forward to continuing to connect, innovate and grow the UK life sciences and biotech sector together in 2026.