A bright future for Life Sciences

The OBN Awards struck an optimistic tone as the best of the UK’s life sciences industry came together and celebrated.

The life sciences industry basked in the well-deserved glow of the spotlight at the prestigious OBN Awards 2024.

Amid the glitz and glamour of the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, the sector donned their finery and gathered together for the 16th year of the awards, which were established by OBN (UK) Ltd, the not-for-profit membership organisation that catalyses growth for the life sciences industry, to celebrate innovation and outstanding achievement across the industry.

The mood of the evening was upbeat and celebratory, as befits an industry that undertakes such vital work and is doing so against an increasingly encouraging backdrop. OBN’s CEO, Stuart Rose, distilled this mood at the event, saying: “The UK life sciences sector is recognised globally for its research and innovation. With inflation decreasing year on year and significant investment in the sector, particularly in 2024, the future is promising. The government’s recognition of the sector’s value, coupled with the innovation from small companies suggests a bright outlook for the UK’s life sciences.”

Jonathon Dines, of EyeBio, echoed these sentiments, saying: “I think that, overall, the outlook in our industry is more positive than it has been for the last couple of years.” And Andree Blaukat, CEO of Tessellate BIO was similarly upbeat, saying: “It has been a challenging time since Covid, but we see it improving again. You see investment from venture capital firms increasing again. We are seeing lots of pharma interest to invest early in biotech and early innovation. So I’m positive.”

Optimism flowed throughout a night in which the 230 guests cheered their fellow professionals as they picked up their awards. The evening was kicked off in hilarious style by host Kwame Asante, who juggles his role as an A&E doctor with a successful career as a stand-up comic. His brilliant routine spanned marriage, single life, the things patients say to him and a particularly surreal routine about believing he was the singer, Adele!

Over the course of the evening, winners were announced in 12 categories.

The Best Start-Up Biotech Company Award, went to Ambrose Healthcare, a pharmaceutical start-up addressing the global need for rare disease treatments. Georgia Wilson Waterworth said of the award: “We are honoured. It’s a real recognition of what we’re trying to achieve here. And OBN’s backing and the judges’ support means a lot.”

The Best Early Stage Medtech Company Award was collected by Novai, who pioneer early detection and intervention for eye and brain diseases. Francesca Cordeira described the award as a huge validation of Novai’s work.

The judges awarded the BioSeed ‘One to Watch’ to Vitarka Therapeutics, which has engineered a drug delivery technology, EndoPore, for intracellular targets in oncology, neuroscience pain and neurodegenerative diseases.

The Most Impactful Industry Collaboration Award was scooped by CF-AMR Syndicate, a cross-sector initiative bringing together leading experts in CF/AMR.

The Most Transformative Healthtech Company Award went to Brainomix, which has developed AI software e-Stroke to support doctors interpreting stroke brain scans. Riaz Rahman said: “This is award is incredibly exciting. And we have just hit the milestone of treating two million patients, and that will continue to grow.”

The Best Industry Support Partner Award went to communications strategy and content agency, First Create the Media, whose founder, Dr Kat Arney, said: “The OBN Awards showcase and celebrate the very best in UK life sciences. It’s a privilege and a joy to support companies doing life-changing research; sharing their stories and helping their innovations become reality.” Meanwhile, the Best Emerging Biotech Company Award went to EyeBio, an ophthalmology biotech company creating a new generation of therapies to treat patients with sight-threatening eye diseases.

The Emerging Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year Award went to Dr Chris Jones. Dr Jones has devoted two decades to designing and employing innovative assays to provide new insights into platelet dysfunction. “It’s really nice to get the recognition for something we’re passionate about,” said Dr Jones, “and we think it is going to make a difference.”

The Best Established Medtech Company Award was won by Perspectum, which delivers advanced imaging solutions to help clinicians care for patients with liver disease, diabetes and cancer. The Most Impactful CRO was Oxford Biomedica. Sophia Bolhassan, said: ”We’re very grateful to OBN for this recognition. Oxford Biomedica is proud to support our clients in delivering life-changing therapies to patients, and it’s great to see our work in cell and gene therapy being celebrated.”

The Best Established Biotech Company Award went to Adaptimmune, a commercial-stage cell therapy company working to redefine the treatment of solid tumour cancers.

And the evening climaxed with Dr David Brown receiving the Special Recognition Award. Over an illustrious career spanning half a century, he has worked with four leading pharmaceutical companies. His many achievements include improving access to medicines in less advantaged countries, sponsoring a global challenge to find innovative treatments of sepsis, and becoming an entrepreneur coach at Cambridge University Business School.

Dr David Brown said: “Receiving this award makes me feel that all the struggles and hard work over the decades have been worthwhile. My life has helped people and I’ll continue as long as I can.”

On the importance of the work OBN does, Dr Brown went on to say: “OBN are a national treasure. The team works so hard and with wonderful positivity. They’ve forged a strong network of biotechs through their excellent events and ongoing support. BioTrinity is the benchmark biotech conference in Europe. It’s played a key role in building the UK’s recognised global strength in this sector.”

Oxford Biomedica’s Sophia Balhassan added: “The OBN Awards provide an important platform to celebrate and recognise the groundbreaking innovation taking place across the life sciences sector.”

David Boal, of Alchemist Consulting, echoed this sentiment, saying: “The great thing about nights like tonight is you’ve got start-up companies that are being recognised as having potential, as well as companies who are already there, having grown through OBN as well. All of them are being recognised for where they are today. It’s brilliant.”

Laying to rest the ghost of Covid was also prominent in people’s minds. Victoria Hutter of ImmuONE said: “It’s a lovely chance for the industry to meet. Post-pandemic, it was very easy to become siloed, and it is wonderful just to come out, celebrate as an industry what we are good at and make new networks. It’s really powerful.”

Biotrial International’s Tanya Chaït agreed, highlighting the wonderful networking opportunities at the event, while Ed Matthews, of Precision for Medicine, said: “It’s great to get everyone together, from all the different fields of the industry, and show how, together we are building something new and different.”

OBN and the entire sector is now eagerly anticipating a productive 2025 full of innovation, investment, adventure and discovery as, together, they create a new and exciting future for life sciences.

“The OBN Awards showcases and celebrates the very best in UK life sciences. It’s a privilege and a joy to support companies doing life-changing research to share their stories and help their innovations become reality.”

For more details about the winners of the awards, visit https://obn.org.uk/news/shining-a-light-on-the-life-sciences/