3 November 2025

BIA update – 3 November 2025

As discussion around the Autumn Budget heats up, BIA is leading a unified call to the Chancellor to back the science, the entrepreneurs and the life sciences industry that can fuel transformational growth for the UK economy. Our sector letter highlights key growth levers and indeed the barriers that hold the sector back in already challenging global conditions.

Do make sure that you’re signed up to the Future of UK Regulation conference, which takes place on Thursday in London, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the future of clinical trials, patient access and smart regulation. Much exciting progress at MHRA, including announcements over the weekend on a pro-innovation approach to rare disease, now we need to see significant step changes in clinical trial joined-up thinking too.

Jane Wall
Managing Director, BIA

Meanwhile, UK biotech leadership takes the spotlight with two significant raises – Elevara raising $70 million Series A and BIA member, AAvantgarde raising $141 million Series B. Congratulations to Emma Tinsley, CEO at Elevara and Weatherden, and Natalia Mischiatelli, CEO at AAvantgarde.

BIA sector letter urges Chancellor to back UK life sciences at Autumn Budget

The most critical piece of advocacy this week is our joint action on the upcoming Autumn Budget.

The BIA is leading a sector letter signed by over 200 biotech CEOs to send a powerful message to Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP, urging her to take decisive action to safeguard the future of the UK life sciences sector and back its potential for transformational economic growth.

Following the BIA's recent Q3 UK biotech financing report, the letter highlights that the global funding drought is taking a toll, leaving many investible companies locked out of growth. To reverse this fragility, our core message is clear: do not raise taxes or business rates on innovative companies, but rather double down on investment.

We are urging the government to invest through proven, effective mechanisms that can quickly deliver growth, including:

Accelerating delivery of already allocated Innovate UK and British Business Bank funds.

Enhancing R&D tax reliefs, EIS/VCT, and EMI schemes to target support for innovative companies.

Doubling down on the Mansion House Accord to unlock pension fund capital for venture investment.

This campaign is live, with the final, signed letter being delivered to HM Treasury tomorrow (4 November). This unified industry message is vital for providing investors with the confidence that the government intends to protect and propel UK life sciences through this challenging period.

Meanwhile, we continue to press for mobilising institutional capital at scale. The British Business Bank (BBB) is undergoing a significant transformation, with its total financial capacity expanded to £25.6 billion following the Spending Review and a new mandate from government. We are working with the BBB to ensure life science companies benefit fully from this major step change in financing.

On the private capital side, we organised a lunch last week for our VC community with Hostplus, a leading Australian pension fund. Managing over AUD $130 billion, Hostplus is a compelling global example of how long-term capital can successfully fuel high-growth innovation, allocating 10% of its portfolio to private equity and venture capital. Their successful model provides valuable insights for the ongoing UK pension reform.

Welcoming news of regulatory reform in rare disease. Join us on Thursday for the Future of UK Regulation

It was fantastic to see the announcement from the MHRA over the weekend on their plans to speed up approvals of innovative therapies for rare diseases. As members of the MHRA’s Rare Disease Consortium, BIA has been supporting this important work since it began earlier this year, alongside some of our members. We welcome the MHRA’s ambition to make the UK a leader in the development of rare disease medicines through flexible, risk-proportionate pathways which are tailored to the unique challenges of rare diseases. Alignment across the access system, including NICE and the NHS, will be essential in ensuring that this ambition becomes a reality and UK patients can benefit from these transformative therapies, and BIA will be engaging with all system partners to drive this forward.

Shaping the end-to-end regulatory and patient access environment is foundational to our mission, and we are looking forward to key stakeholders coming together this Thursday, 6 November, at 30 Euston Square, London, for the Future of UK Life Sciences Regulation conference, in collaboration with MHRA. A critical annual forum, bringing together key decision-makers and regulators to debate and design the adaptive, future-proof frameworks we need. Attendees consistently praise the event's value in stimulating discussion on the current and future status of regulation in the UK.

London Life Sciences Week: networking platform and BIA members' lounge

The countdown is on for London Life Sciences Week, which runs from 16-21 November. With over 70 events taking place across London, this is the premier gathering for the global biotech and investment community, perfectly timed alongside the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference in London to maximise dealmaking and capital flow. Crucially, the official networking platform, powered by partneringONE, is now live and will enable London Life Science Week visitors to connect, no matter which events they are planning to attend.

We’re also proud to offer an exclusive perk for our members: the dedicated BIA Members’ Lounge at Victoria House in Bloomsbury, open from Monday, 17 November to Friday, 21 November, 9 am to 5 pm. Think of it as your strategic home base, a vital hub for high-quality conversations and quiet focus during this intensely busy week. We look forward to hosting you there. You can book space through the networking platform (book a meeting and select the BIA members' lounge as a venue) or email [email protected] if you are looking for space. Please note this is a BIA member-only facility and places are limited.

Long-term R&D funding allocations confirmed

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) confirmed how its R&D funding settlement from July’s Spending Review will be allocated for the UK’s research agencies and bodies.

UKRI’s budget will total £38.6 billion over the four years from 2026 to 2030, and the Office for Life Sciences will receive over £900 million, a large amount of which is for the Our Future Health programme. The funding allocation also includes an approximate doubling for ARIA's annual budget, which rises to £400 million by 2029/2030. We will have to wait until December for a breakdown of UKRI’s allocation to the research councils and Innovate UK.