AstraZeneca UK Ltd

I was delighted to read on Friday night that many colleagues and BIA members were rightly recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021. The headlines were dominated by Kate Bingham, former Chair of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) and Professor Sarah Gilbert of Oxford University who both became Dames.

I’m really disappointed that a positive COVID test and self isolation period means I will miss both bioProcessUK conference and the official opening of AstraZeneca’s R&D HQ in Cambridge this week - two events I was really looking forward to. I do plan to participate in the UK Government's Life Science Council as it is a virtual meeting this time around.

AstraZeneca receives $1.2bn to scale-up and deliver Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, antibody testing gains momentum as a deal is struck between Roche and the NHS and details start to emerge on the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU.

Reporting back on an international vaccine summit, AstraZeneca moves forward with providing vaccines to the world and a high-profile endorsement of our sector’s COVID-19 work.

UK medicines manufacturing is buoyant after its contribution to the pandemic following collaboration between industry, academia and government to develop, manufacture, and scale up COVID-19 vaccines. As the landscape strengthens and grows it is becoming an increasingly attractive area for investors, illustrated by recent investments highlighted in the blog.

It was fantastic to see the launch of the Medicines & Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund which aims to boost economic opportunities, innovation and health resilience by supporting medicines and diagnostics manufacturing investments in the UK.

Fantastic news last week as several investment and expansion announcements were made within the UK manufacturing community. Autolus confirmed that they have received planning approval to develop a new 70,000 square foot facility in Stevenage. It’s great to see the continued expansion in the Stevenage area, a key cluster in the UK ecosystem. Further details of Autolus’ new facility can be found here.

The NHS Test and Trace Programme is launched, Gilead’s remdesivir becomes available under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme and BIA members continue to ramp up UK vaccine manufacturing capacity. Plus, the BIA innovates this week with the popular Women in Biotech series moving to a virtual setting!