CEO blog: support for the sector and its strategic plan through a week of Government change

Dear Colleagues,

During a week of change in Government, we have seen clear ongoing support for the Life Sciences Sector Plan and the life sciences and biotech sector’s strategic place in the UK. There are strong signals in support of existing biotech clusters and for a devolved approach that could see additional regional investments which, if differentiated, will strengthen our nationwide cluster.

We’re already working with the expanded Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to reinforce the needs of start-ups to scale-ups to incoming ministers. We are exercising cautious, calm optimism.

Our policy team is actively engaging across Government as the new structures and ministers bed in. BIA members will receive an exclusive briefing in their inboxes once the ministerial briefs are published and can tune in to our webinar on 5 August to hear full details. You can also read our exclusive analysis of what Andy Burnham’s approach means for UK life sciences.

Importantly though, we extend a farewell to Lord Patrick Vallance who, as science minister, has made a profound and long-lasting sector impact. Whilst we are sad to see him go, we have hopes that his legacy will ring across Government and the UK life sciences ecosystem. We trust his ongoing roles in AI and across the Ox-Cam corridor will continue to deliver for us all.

We look forward to continuing and strengthening our relationships across the departments with faces old and new, particularly with Chris McDonald MP who we know well and appears to have been appointed as our new Life Sciences Minister.

In this update:

• The new Government: what it means for the sector
• A farewell to Lord Patrick Vallance
• Gene synthesis screening roundtable
• Last chance – TechBio UK early bird tickets

The new Government: what it means for the sector

The dust is still settling on Andy Burnham’s Cabinet reshuffle and shake-up of departments. We welcome back Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds MP at the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Yvette Cooper MP as Health Secretary.

We are also delighted Chris McDonald has been appointed a Minister of State in both the new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Department of Health and Social Care, suggesting he will be our new Life Sciences Minister, although ministerial responsibilities are yet to be published.

We know him well from his previous role in government, where we worked with him on the Industrial Strategy, and he spoke at our inaugural BioSolutionsUK conference in April this year. 

I was pleased to join a call with Jonathan on his third day in post. I asked for his commitment to deliver the Life Sciences Sector Plan and unlock institutional capital. He confirmed his foot will stay firmly on the accelerator.

Ministers take on these briefs at a moment of real commercial momentum, with £2.05 billion raised in Q2 2026, our strongest venture capital quarter in five years. Maintaining policy certainty, accelerating clinical trial execution and unlocking domestic capital will ensure this momentum delivers long-term economic growth and better patient outcomes across the nation.

A farewell to Lord Patrick Vallance

With welcomes come farewells, and none more notable for us than the departure of Lord Patrick Vallance, who has made a profound and long-lasting sector impact, for which we owe him a great debt of gratitude.

His domain knowledge, productivity and focus have been critical in the resurgence of our life sciences ecosystem post-COVID-19, which is recognised nationally and globally. His legacy will be felt by hundreds of companies across the nation and ultimately by both UK patients and the wider economy alike.

For any sector to have an instinctive understanding of its language, needs and opportunity at ministerial level is rare and precious. We have certainly felt this advantage through Patrick’s presence in difficult times and the sector stands to benefit from the changes his determined policy work in private and public have delivered.

We feel reassured that he will remain in an advisory role, with trust from industry and Government alike. We thank him and wish him well as he focuses more specifically on the opportunities and challenges surrounding AI and the linking of UK clusters to form a more productive whole.

Bringing industry and Government together on gene synthesis screening

Last week, BIA brought together innovative biotechs and Government to consider next steps on the UK's approach to nucleic acid synthesis screening, and how to best work with international partners to share best practice and consider alignment.

This followed the Cabinet Office publishing the 2025-26 implementation report of the UK’s Biological Security Strategy, laying out the achievements and next steps on continuing to make the UK a world leader in responsible innovation in engineering biology.

Working closely with Government, BIA continues to champion our industry’s approach to responsible innovation in engineering biology.

Last chance – TechBio UK early bird tickets

Grab your early bird TechBio UK ticket by this Friday to secure a 20% discount!

TechBio UK comes back to King’s Cross on 13 October. It is the UK’s flagship TechBio conference – bringing together leaders from biotech, pharma, technology and investment to accelerate the next wave of innovation.

Join us to be part of the conversations, connections and collaborations shaping the next wave of TechBio.