New chair for the BioIndustry Association
pharmafile | July 1, 2013 | Appointment | |Â Â Â
The BioIndustry Association has appointed Dr Edward Hodgkin as its new chairman, effective from October this year.
Hodgkin succeeds Tim Edwards, who will formally step down in October following three years as BIA chairman. Edwards will remain a member of the BIA Board.
Hodgkin has been a non-executive director of the BIA since 2010 and serves as a member of the BIA’s Executive Committee. He is a Partner with Syncona Partners, where his role is to create and lead new life science ventures.
Prior to joining Syncona in April 2013, he was chief executive of Biotica Technology, a Cambridge therapeutics company, from 2007 to 2012. Trained as a chemist, Hodgkin has served in a variety of scientific, business and management roles in biotech and pharma companies in the US and UK over a career of more than 20 years.
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.”
Hodgkin added: “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.”
Steve Bates, chief executive of the BIA, said: “I welcome Ed to his new role and look forward to working even more closely with Ed, building on our excellent relationship established through his current role on the BIA Executive and Board. On a personal note I’d like to thank Tim for his help and guidance to me in my first year in the job, and for staying in the chair an extra year to help me bed into my role.”
