CEO Update - 3 March 2025

Last week was a big one for UK life sciences, from the BIA Committee Summit shaping our sector’s future to major leadership changes at UKRI and NHS England. In this week’s update, I explore what these developments mean for our industry, alongside breakthroughs in AI, investment, and accessibility in healthcare.

Charting our future: highlights from the 2025 BIA Committee Summit

It was great to see so many members engaged at the 2025 BIA Committee Summit, where our Advisory Committees all came together for their first meetings of the year, shared priorities with the BIA board and had a great day of focused discussions and dynamic panel sessions.

Steve Bates OBE
CEO, BIA

A core development of the BIA this year is the establishment of BIA communities for members not on committees, and the event marked the launch of our Deep Biotech community and others, enabling our broader community of members to engage in our policy and advocacy work.

BIA communities are specialised networking groups that bring together bioindustry professionals to share expertise, discuss challenges, and foster collaborative growth within the sector.

To join a BIA community, login to your member account on the BIA website and select the community that best aligns with your interests from the list provided.

Our Committees are the beating heart of BIA expertise and I was heartened to hear from members the appreciation they have for the BIA team who support their work.

Driving progress on rare disease treatment access

Rare Disease Day was celebrated in Parliament last week and brings vital attention to the unique challenges faced by the 3.5 million people living with a rare disease in the UK. The Department for Health and Social Care published the fourth England Rare Disease Action Plan, a key BIA ask in this area, which builds on previous actions and introduces new initiatives to support patients.

To mark this occasion, we have published a blog, highlighting the need to improve access to rare disease treatments within the NHS. One of the key concerns is ensuring that proposed changes to NICE’s Highly Specialised Technologies (HST) criteria do not further restrict access to life-changing medicines for patients with rare conditions. We are pleased to see that Action 25 will be extended following last year’s meeting with NHS England, NICE, and MHRA, where we discussed findings from the joint ABPI and BIA member survey on the challenges facing rare disease drug development and access. A crucial aspect of Action 25 is the commitment for delivery partners to meet annually with patient advocacy groups, industry, and clinical researchers to track progress in improving treatment access.

'Big WIB' this week as Women in Biotech returns to Cambridge

It’s our special extended Women in Biotech event this week where we'll be celebrating International Women's Day with a full day of thought-leading panels and discussions, inspirational talks as well as exciting keynote speakers. 'BIG WIB 2025' will bring together 250+ attendees in Cambridge to connect, support and inspire. 

As a result of member demand, we’ve expanded to a full day, the event will provide practical workshop roundtables on key topics, inspiring keynotes and thought leadership panels, as well as provide the launch platform for our latest data and report on gender representation at C-Suite across our industry.

Our response to the AI and copyright consultation

The intersection of AI and intellectual property (IP) is a critical issue for the life sciences sector, and the government is engaging with industry on this through its copyright and AI consultation. At the BIA, we’ve been clear in our response — innovation in AI must be balanced with strong protections for IP to ensure the UK remains a world leader in life sciences. The ability to develop and commercialize cutting-edge technologies depends on a fair and effective IP framework, and we’ll continue working with policymakers to make sure the UK fosters an environment where both AI and life sciences innovation can thrive.

London’s Growth Plan: a boost for life sciences and innovation

London’s newly unveiled Growth Plan is a bold vision for boosting productivity and driving investment into key high-growth sectors, including life sciences. This plan recognises the huge potential of our industry to not only generate economic growth but also deliver transformative health innovations.

With a focus on supporting cutting-edge fields like AI, clean tech, and quantum computing, the strategy aligns well with the UK’s ambition to be a global science superpower. Ensuring that life sciences companies can access the right infrastructure, talent, and investment in the capital will be key to making this vision a reality, and the BIA will continue working to keep our sector at the heart of London’s growth story with London Life Sciences Week in November a moment where BIA members from across the country can meet with global investors focused on our sector.

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