BIA update – 9 February 2026
A bumper update today as we highlight the critical importance of building UK capability and innovation leadership as geopolitics continues to provide uncertainty.
There are many distractions – both in terms of global shifts and domestic politics: even more urgent that we continue to focus on delivering Industrial Strategy commitments.
Jane Wall
Managing Director, BIA
Focus on manufacturing
This week we will be highlighting some exciting developments in UK biomanufacturing, so stay tuned for a flurry of announcements, blogs and social media activity over the coming days. We host a range of events throughout the year related to the sector, so make sure our 2026 RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics Conference (15-16 September 2026) and bioProcessUK (17-19 November 2026) are both in your diary!
The role of UK medicines manufacturing as a strategic asset underpinning medicine security, economic growth and resilience has shifted significantly post-COVID and now through Industrial Strategy. BIA has played a central role in shaping this environment, consistently making the case for targeted capital support, competitive tax incentives and a route to manufacture more sustainably. We have helped shape initiatives such as the Life Science Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF) and we continue to advocate for SME accessibility and even and predictable fund distribution. We have been integral to ensuring medicines manufacturing skills are prioritised and recognised by Government as an enabler of resilience and growth.
Working collaboratively with industry through the Medicine Manufacturing Industry Partnership (MMIP), we have recently influenced the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme – set to reduce electricity costs for industrial strategy priority sector manufacturers, including BIA members – and our priority is to shape a coherent and competitive policy framework that anchors medicines manufacturing in the UK.
Watch this space!
Lords identifies medicines manufacturing as a national priority
The Lords’ report, ‘Medicines security – a national priority’, makes for important reading amongst the UK’s medicine manufacturing industry. It finds that the UK’s medicines supply chain is now so reliant on overseas production – especially China and India, which provide the majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients – that even routine geopolitical disruption could leave patients without essential treatments. Shortages are already rising, with 73% of pharmacy teams saying supply issues are putting patient health at risk and many reporting spending hours each day sourcing alternatives. This echoes our longstanding case for building a more resilient domestic life sciences base.
The Committee’s call for stronger leadership, better real‑time data and a shift from lowest‑cost procurement towards value‑based, resilience‑focused approaches aligns directly with our advocacy on investment in UK manufacturing and creating positive conditions for innovative manufacturers to scale sustainably. It’s a timely reminder that the sector’s voice is central to shaping the reforms the UK now urgently needs.
Former PM echoes BIA calls for action on biotech opportunity for UK
We think that the former PM has been paying attention to BIA output with the publication of his recent article for the Times echoing many of our calls for action and citing some of our recent sector financing stats. Rishi Sunak stresses the need for greater investment in the sector, including manufacturing - referencing numbers from our 2025 biotech financing report and highlighting the need for a boost in equity and venture capital funding. He also calls for a strategic approach for the UK – “we will never be able to compete in pure funding terms with the US and China. So, we have to box clever.” We agree…
BIA secures win on Precision Breeding Act
Also on message in last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Kier Starmer reiterated his ambition to foster a favourable regulatory environment. He emphasised his commitment to the Precision Breeding Act as a piece of legislation that supports new innovative technologies - adding that the EU accepts there will need to be areas where we retain our own rules, and that British interests will be prioritised as the Government negotiates the SPS agreement.
At BIA, we continue to reinforce our position on this issue. We secured the win for our sector when the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee agreed with the argument we put forward, stressing that precision breeding should remain a strategic exception to closer UK–EU alignment on trade.
GMO roundtable
BIA and the Regulatory Innovation Office convened a roundtable bringing together four engineering biology SMEs and three UK regulators to explore how the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Contained Use and Deliberate Release regulatory pathways interact with innovation across engineering biology applications. Representatives from the Health and Safety Executive, Defra and the MHRA explored how the framework operates in practice for innovative companies, with examples spanning applications from PFAS removal from water to the use of microbes in cancer treatment.
Busy week for BIA!
Meanwhile we continue to motor at breadth and pace at the BIA with another busy week ahead – I’m just back from our incredible parliamentary afternoon reception on rare diseases with over 80 UK rare disease experts and stakeholders, including parliamentarians, patient advocacy groups, clinical representatives and industry leaders – formally celebrating the launch of our report.
Our webinar tomorrow at 2pm on animal testing has proved to be extremely popular and timely and we’re looking forward to an informed and productive discussion around "3Rs in action: bridging the gap between policy and practice". Also tomorrow I am really looking forward to our roundtable with members and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) on shaping the funder’s future strategy for SMEs.
