A thank you to the UK bioprocessing community from UK royals

Ian McCubbin is the former Vaccine Manufacturing lead on the Vaccine Taskforce and former chair of the BIA COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing Taskforce. Ian is also a BIA board member. Ian has written about his investiture ceremony and passes along an important message from the royal family to the many individuals and companies involved in supporting various vaccine candidates.

A thank you to the UK bioprocessing community from UK royals:

On Wednesday the 22 of February, I was delighted to attend an investiture at Windsor Castle, where I received my CBE from the Duke of Cambridge in recognition of the work done by those from the UK Bioprocessing community to help manufacture and scale up COVID-19 vaccines.

On my way to the palace, I thought back to the time in Q1 2020 when Netty England putout the call to the UK bioprocessing community asking for help to support the scale up of Oxford University and Imperial College London’s vaccine candidates to ensure that doses could be made and filled in the UK. The response was extraordinary, quickly and effectively the UK bioprocessing community formed to support the universities and became a pivotal knowledge base for the Vaccines Taskforce on the challenges of scaling up and manufacturing vaccines at pace. 

The process of receiving an honour involves a short discussion with the host, in this case the Duke of Cambridge. He was very well informed and was very appreciative of what we had done and asked me (twice) to ensure that I thanked the team.

Ian McCubbin CBE

So, a massive thank you to everybody involved, to the BIA, and to Steve Bates for setting the culture of the organisation that ensures when help is requested the offers are overwhelming. Thanks also to all of the BIA members, individual and corporate who rallied round and gave time and energy without condition.

There is no doubt in my mind that our efforts have been appreciated at the highest level in the country and are making a difference for patients around the world.

Thanks to all.

Ian McCubbin CBE