New Women in Biotech leadership report provides sector-specific data for the first time on UK biotech's C-suite gender diversity

London, 4 March 2025 – The BioIndustry Association (BIA) today launches its Women in Biotech leadership report ahead of the 300 sector leaders and future leaders gathered for the Women in Biotech conference in Cambridge on 6 March.

The report, sponsored by Cambridge Innovation Capital, is a sector-specific first in comprehensively collecting and examining C-suite gender leadership data for UK biotech and identifies clear successes of female leadership at the same time as highlighting sustained challenges.  

The report analyses a decade of data and incorporates insights from female CEOs and C-suite executives, uncovering both trends and personal stories.

The report shows:

• Female UK biotech CEO representation increased from 12.4% in 2014 to 17.8% in 2024, but growth of representation is stalling.
• In 2022, women comprised 17% of biotech CEOs, secured 22% of total investment and completed 25% of deals.
• In 2024, at seed stage, women comprised 25% of biotech CEOs and the proportion of total capital raised by those CEOs was 32%. 
• In 2024, women CEOs accounted for almost 18% of industry leadership and completed 22% of deals. However, the amount of money raised by female-led companies was only 8% of total capital raised. Data suggests that post-2022 downturn, investors exhibited increased risk aversion, favouring established and serial management teams (often male), even though statistics on fundraising vs representation and other evidence demonstrate that female-led companies can statistically achieve strong performance.
• When surveyed, 45% of female biotech CEOs cited external bias (from investors and funders) as their primary challenge.

Commenting on the report, Dan Mahony, BIA Board Chair and UK government Life Sciences Investment Envoy, said:

While our industry has made progress over the past decade, the data highlights a concerning slowdown in leadership diversity. As investors, we see first-hand how diverse perspectives strengthen decision-making, drive innovation, and ultimately lead to better business outcomes. Yet, systemic barriers continue to limit female representation at the highest levels. This is not just a question of equity—it’s a matter of economic and sectoral competitiveness.

Annalisa Jenkins, Non-Executive Director, Compass Pathways, said: “This sector-first report provides valuable insights into both the progress and ongoing challenges for females in biotech leadership. While we have seen encouraging signs over the past 10 years—good growth in the absolute number of female CEOs sitting in the role and who are successfully securing a strong share of completed transactions and earlier-stage fundraising—the data also highlights areas where momentum is stalling."

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the BIA, said:

Collating and publishing data on the current state of female leadership in UK biotech both illuminates areas of progress to celebrate and exposes the persistent challenges that demand further scrutiny and action.

Jane Wall, Managing Director, BIA, said: “This report was born out of a lack of data focused on females in leadership roles in UK biotech. Alongside the UK sector-specific data, through the surveys and the interviews we conducted, the report shares some lived experience of females in UK life science leadership positions. Our ultimate aim is an effort to understand ‘why’ and to set out some initial ideas on how we can collectively move this dial.”