BIA Webinar: Developments in US politics for UK biotech

Steve Bates OBE

Chief Executive Officer

What does your role at BIA involve?

Steve Bates is the CEO of the UK Bioindustry Association, the UK’s Trade Association for innovative life science companies with over 550 members. Steve is the visible face of the vibrant UK life sciences industry to government and media. He serves on the UK Government’s Life Sciences Council and the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council. Steve was a founder member of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce in the Covid crisis, sitting on its steering Board alongside Kate Bingham. He is active member and former chair the International Council of Biotech Associations and has been a board member of EuropaBio since 2015.

Previous experience & achievements

Steve has championed, with government, effective industrial incentives like the Biomedical Catalyst, which have crowded in private sector investment into UK SMEs. He is a driving force behind the scale up agenda, spearheading policy agenda to unlock UK pension fund capital into productive UK growth in life sciences. He has forged several links for the sector across the USA, Europe and in China. In his time at the BIA, Steve has developed new member groups focused on cell and gene therapy, genomics and engineered biology. A strong advocate of partnership working, Steve champions sector collaboration with research charities and academia. Proud to lead an organisation with a diverse Board with over 40% female representation, Steve is committed to next generation talent and developing the skills needed for the sector to flourish. Before joining the BIA in 2012, Steve worked for Genzyme and was advisor to the UK Government of Tony Blair working on NHS reform and the Northern Ireland peace process. He was made OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.

: stevebatesuk
: @SteveBatesUK

Steve Usdin

Washington Editor & Head of Policy & Regulation, BioCentury

Steve has been BioCentury’s Washington Editor since 1993, covering political and policy issues affecting the life sciences sector. He is BioCentury’s Senior Editor responsible for coverage of social issues involving biotechnology, and a key driver of BioCentury’s annual Back to School project. Steve is also co-host of The BioCentury Show, BioCentury’s twice monthly in-depth conversation with global leaders who are determining the future of medicine, and a regular contributor on the BioCentury This Week podcast. He was also BioCentury’s public affairs television program broadcast in 2010-14. Steve writes extensively about regulatory affairs and innovation, and is one of the most respected providers of biopharma intelligence on FDA. In 2012, the FDA Alumni Association named Steve the Harvey W. Wiley Lecturer, making him the first journalist to receive the Wiley Award.

Steve’s reporting about biotechnology and biomedical policy has been cited in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, New Scientist and other publications. Steve is also a widely recognized scholar on espionage and the Cold War. He is the author of Bureau of Spies: The Secret Connections between Espionage and Journalism in Washington and Engineering Communism: How Two Americans Spied for Stalin and Founded the Soviet Silicon Valley.