Steve Bates OBE has been leading the UK Bioindustry Association as CEO since 2012. He sits on the UK’s Life Sciences Council, and is a visible UK life sciences industry expert to government and media and a founder member of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce. Before the BIA, Steve worked for Genzyme and advised the UK Government of Tony Blair. He was made OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.
Steve has championed, with government, effective industrial incentives like the Biomedical Catalyst, which have crowded in private sector investment into UK SMES. He has forged several links for the sector across the USA, Europe and in China, and has developed new member groups focused on cell and gene therapy, genomics and engineering biology whilst at the BIA. A strong advocate of partnership working, Steve champions sector collaboration with research charities and academia and is committed to next generation talent and developing the skills needed for the sector to flourish.