Influencing and shaping our sector BIA update: April - June 2024

The BioIndustry Association (BIA) continued to represent the innovative life science sector to Ministers and senior policymakers between April and June 2024. This quarterly report provides a summary of those engagements.

 

 

 

With the Prime Minister calling a snap election set for 4 July, the BIA’s attention has turned to preparing for the next government. Meanwhile, Parliament Day, our flagship day of parliamentary engagement, has been postponed to the autumn. Official engagements with civil servants have also been restricted in accordance with the pre-election period of sensitivity.

However, there has been no shortage of engagements in the second quarter of 2024. Highlights have included hosting a bilateral UK-Swiss summit on the potential for collaboration on engineering biology, meeting the Lord Mayor of London to discuss future skills for our sector, and follow-up meetings with parliamentarians on improving access to innovative treatments for rare disease patients.

Less glitzy, but no less important, have been our submissions and engagements with civil servants. The BIA has worked with London Economics to develop a stronger approach to assessing R&D tax credits, fed into the future of vital secure data environments (SDEs) within the NHS, and harnessed our relationship with the MHRA to shape forthcoming UK clinical trials regulation.

Read on for an overview of the BIA’s influencing work over the past quarter as we look ahead to a brand new parliament in the next.