The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has appointed Ben Osborn, Pfizer’s UK country manager, as its new president. He takes over from outgoing president Hasseb Ahmad, and will now oversee the ABPI, the ABPI board and the ABPI’s Code of Practice, a new version of which is due to be published in July.

According to the Association, Ben’s presidency will have three broad priorities: building a more resilient NHS post-pandemic by supporting the health service and the government to build back better from COVID-19; putting life sciences at the heart of the UK’s future prosperity, helping to meet our shared ambition of making the UK a science superpower; and tackling global health challenges to find solutions for ongoing health emergencies like antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to be ready for future pandemics.

“Our industry has made an incredible contribution in this pandemic, working together with partners across the health and care space to research, develop, and deliver treatments and vaccines for COVID-19,” he said. “I want to use my presidency to learn from the successes of the past year and ensure the spirit of that mission-led approach to health is at the heart of everything we do, from adopting innovation to benefit patients across the country to bolstering the UK’s credentials as a life sciences superpower.”

The ABPI has also announced the appointment of Pinder Sahota, general manager and corporate vice president of Novo Nordisk UK, as vice president.

A group of pharma and biotech companies has joined forces to raise awareness and boost understanding of cell and gene therapies in the UK.

The Cell & Gene Collective – launched by Astellas, bluebird bio, Bristol Myers Squibb, Kite (a Gilead company) and Novartis – aims to lead the conversation on maintaining the early progress made in the UK for the introduction of cell and gene therapies.

This will include addressing barriers to access and translating ‘positive public attitudes’ for the science into public support to adopt these treatments for use in the NHS.

New complex medicines such as cell and gene therapies face particular obstacles in the UK, as they go through the same value assessment processes as other less complex medicines. On top of that, the infrastructure required to administer these therapies to patients is not widely available.

“Together we’re committed to ensuring patients in the UK who can benefit from transformational cell and gene treatments do so, and that people have a clear understanding of how these therapies work,” said Bob Roosjen, interim general manager at Gilead UK & Ireland. “Cell and gene therapies aim to transform patients’ lives, now let’s work together to get the NHS ready for the future”.

“Cell and gene therapies are here now which is really exciting, with treatments starting to enter routine clinical practice. Others however face delays and hurdles and we need greater focus and collaboration across multiple stakeholders to ensure this becomes a reality we can all see the benefits of in the UK,” added Nicola Redfern, general manager at bluebird bio