BIA Chair reappointed as UK Government Life Sciences Investment Envoy

20 November 2024, London, UK - The UK Government has reappointed the BioIndustry Association’s Chair, Dr Daniel Mahony, as its Life Sciences Investment Envoy.

Dr Mahony will work with the UK Government to champion investment into the UK’s innovative life sciences and biotech sector, including playing a key role in the ongoing pension reforms led by Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP. The announcement comes at the midway point of London Life Sciences Week, which has attracted investors from around the world.

Dr Daniel Mahony said:

The Chancellor has created real momentum with her pension reforms, creating a fantastic opportunity to deliver better returns for savers whilst super-charging UK growth industries like life sciences.

Innovative life science and biotech companies have some unique characteristics, including long R&D timelines and high capital requirements, which mean they need specific focus within the wider pension reforms. I am looking forward to working with the Chancellor and ministers to ensure the UK is the best place for life science companies to start, scale, and stay.

Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

The life sciences sector is a UK success story, and this Government is determined to support the industry to keep driving investment into the country and creating jobs, as well as delivering new treatments and therapies for diseases that cause misery.

Access to finance is a critical part of these efforts because, without investment, businesses can’t access the infrastructure and human capital they need to get breakthrough ideas to market. Dr Mahony’s ongoing work will help to boost the capital available to UK life sciences companies to help them scale and succeed, for the benefit of our economy and for patients.

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the BIA, said:

The UK is the world’s third global cluster for life science and the largest outside of America. We are responsible for 35% of European start-ups created since 2012 and consistently attract 40% of all European biotech venture investment each year. British Business Bank data shows life sciences venture funds outperform the overall market in realising returns for investors, and yet UK pension funds are not investing in the sector, unlike their Canadian and American counterparts.

Daniel’s expertise and passion will be a key asset for the Government as it looks to super-charge our already world-leading life science and biotech companies with new sources of finance.

Notes to Editors:

• For more information, please contact Alina O’Keeffe on 077 4124 6088 or [email protected].
• Dr Daniel Mahony is Chair of the BIA Board and Senior Partner in Growth Investments at Novo Holdings. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge and Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Daniel has 25+ years of global healthcare investment experience covering biotechnology, medical technology and healthcare services. In 2007, he co-founded the healthcare business unit at Polar Capital in London, growing it to over $4 billion in assets under management. Daniel was formerly a Senior Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, an Analyst at ING Barings Furman Selz in New York, and completed his postdoctoral work at DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto. Daniel received his PhD in Development Biology from the University of Cambridge and his BA in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.
• Dr Mahony was appointed as the UK Government’s Life Sciences Envoy in 2022 and held the role until it ceased to exist due to the 2024 general election.