Andy Richards Receives BioIndustry Association Lifetime Achievement Award
Presenting Andy with the award, Tim Edwards, BIA Chairman, said:
"Andy Richards is an enthusiast for and champion of UK bioscience. He has established numerous companies that are getting new medicines from an idea to approved products that help patients. He is a true leader in our sector who has continued to put his own money where his mouth is. Finally, and quite possibly most importantly, Andy spends time inspiring school and university students to be entrepreneurial and to consider following a career in an innovative sector, such as life sciences."
Andy Richards said:
"It is truly gratifying to be honoured by the BIA in this way, and I would like to thank all of those who have worked with me. The UK life-science ecosystem is a tremendous community with the profound capacity to do real good. It punches well above its weight in global impact and has many more successes than are recognised and reported. As we enter the age of biology and personalised medicine it is a great place to be with great people."
The BIA's Gala Dinner is the UK's flagship life sciences networking event. Yesterday's event was attended by 600 sector stakeholders and raised more than £25,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
For further information, please contact Robert Winder, Head of Communications, rwinder@bioindustry.org, 020 7630 2191; mobile 07825 942 934.
Photograph available on request.
Dr. Andy Richards
Andy Richards is an entrepreneur, company founder and Angel Investor specialising in life sciences. He is currently Chairman of Altacor, Abcodia, Novacta and Ixico; Non-Executive Director of Arecor, PsychologyOn-line and Cambridge Temperature Concepts and is a special advisor to Vectura plc. In addition, he is a Non-Executive Director of Cancer Research Technologies (the commercial arm of CR-UK) and Babraham Bioscience Technologies, is a member of the BBSRC Council and a Trustee of the British Science Association. He is a founder member of Cambridge Angels and an advisor to several Venture Capital Funds, Private Equity Funds and Corporate Venture Funds.
Andy is a Cambridge graduate with a PhD in enzyme chemistry who spent his early career with ICI (now AstraZeneca) and with PA Technology. He was a founder of Chiroscience in 1992 and an executive director through to the Celltech deal in 1999. Andy has a track record as a founder, active investor in and director of more than 20 innovative healthcare and life-science companies over the last 12 years including companies that are have successfully exited such as Arakis, Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd, Geneservice, Sirus, Daniolabs, Biowisdom, Pharmakodex and Clinical Force. In addition, he has been a director of the BIA and has contributed to numerous government committees and initiatives.
BioIndustry Association
Founded over 20 years ago at the infancy of biotechnology, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the trade association for innovative enterprises involved in UK bioscience. Members include emerging and more established bioscience companies; pharmaceutical companies; academic, research and philanthropic organisations; and service providers to the bioscience sector. The BIA represents the interests of its members to a broad section of stakeholders, from government and regulators to patient groups and the media. Our goal is to secure the UK's position as a global hub and as the best location for innovative research and commercialisation, enabling our world-leading research base to deliver healthcare solutions that can truly make a difference to people's lives. For further information, please go to www.bioindustry.org