Edward Hodgkin elected chair of UK biotech association

The UK's BioIndustry Association (BIA) has elected Edward Hodgkin to be its new chair, succeeding Tim Edwards.

Hodgkin has been a non-executive director of the BIA since 2010 and currently serves on the Association's executive committee.

His career in pharma and biotech has so far spanned more than 20 years, during which time he has held a variety of scientific, business and management roles in the US and UK.

Hodgkin is currently a partner at the Wellcome Trust's independent subsidiary Syncona Partners, where his role is to create and lead new life science ventures. Prior to that he spent five years at Cambridge therapeutics company Biotica Technology as its CEO. 

He said:
"While our members face many challenges, not least being access to capital, there is a fantastic opportunity to put life sciences at the forefront of the nation's recovering economy. Government, private enterprise and the public sector are aligned in this ambition, and the BIA is playing a central role in facilitating that."

His predecessor, Tim Edwards, served as BIA chair for three years and will remain a member of the Association's board.

Edwards said:
"I am delighted that Ed has been elected as the new chairman of the BIA. His experience in the UK life sciences sector will be of great benefit to the organisation and its members. 

 “The BIA continues to be the leading advocacy group for the UK's innovative bioscience companies of all sizes, and I thank Steve and his team for all their work on behalf of our members."