Peter Fox

Supporting innovative biotech companies is critical to advancing the next generation of #AdvancedTherapies. Through the Cross-Catapult Investment Pilot, supported by Innovate UK, we’re pleased to be working with Stratosvir Limited to help accelerate the development of its novel anticancer therapeutics and support future growth. This collaboration reflects the importance of targeted support and investment in helping promising innovations progress towards patient impact. Learn more about the collaboration: https://ow.ly/S4HR50YT5JQ #CellTherapy #GeneTherapy #AdvancedTherapies #ATMPs

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🎉 What an incredible experience at Festival of Genomics London 2026! We were thrilled to debut our groundbreaking SeekOne DD Single-Cell DNA Methylation + RNA Multi-Omics Solution​ on the global stage. The energy was electric as we connected with leading minds in genomics. Our team engaged in deep discussions about how this technology is set to redefine single-cell research standards​ by enabling true multi-omics profiling from the same single cell. ✨ Key Highlights from the Launch: 👉 True Multi-Omics:​ Simultaneously capture DNA methylation (epigenetics), RNA (gene expression), VDJ (immune repertoire), and CNV data from the same cell, eliminating correlation artifacts from split samples. 👉 High Flexibility:​ Adaptable cell throughput (500–12,000 cells per run) caters to both rare clinical samples and large-scale studies. 👉 Gentler Enzymatic Conversion:​ Our innovative enzymatic C-T conversion technology replaces harsh bisulfite treatment, preserving DNA integrity for superior methylation data quality and coverage. A huge thank you to everyone who visited our booth, attended our presentations, and shared their insights. The interest from the international research community has been truly inspiring. 🔎 This launch marks a significant step forward in empowering scientists to unlock complex biological mechanisms​ in cancer, immunology, neuroscience, and development with unprecedented precision. 🤝 Watch the video below for a glimpse of the action and the excitement surrounding the launch! #FOG2026 #FestivalOfGenomics #SeekGene #SingleCell #MultiOmics #Epigenetics #DNAMethylation #Transcriptomics #SpatialBiology #Genomics #Innovation #LifeSciences

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Proud to announce NIOME’s expanding partnership with the Institute of Medical Sciences at University of Aberdeen in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 This marks a deeper integration between decentralised AI and real-world genomics!🧬 Lots more work to be done. Onward!🚀 Check out the blog: https://lnkd.in/emshbNWf

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Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has opened a patient engagement page for our Innovate UK Women in Innovation project. In partnership with Genomics England and Cytochroma, we're using patient-derived data to help improve how cancer medicines are researched and used for people from all backgrounds. We want to hear directly from people affected by cancer, to ensure our work is guided by real-life experiences. If you are undergoing cancer treatment, especially but not limited to Gefitinib, you can register your interest in participating in a 60-minute online group interview to share your views. We are particularly keen to hear from people from Black, Asian, or other ethnic minority backgrounds; women with experience of cancer treatment; and anyone who feels medical research hasn’t always reflected their background or experiences. Learn more about how to share your experience of cancer treatment here: https://lnkd.in/dtcDvfq3 The closing date to register interest is Friday, 29 May. For more information about the project, and how we are extending our AI platform to address the significant gap in drug safety understanding in diverse populations, see the link in the comments.

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🔔 Opportunity opening soon to host the UK pre-clinical translational models Hub.   We're pleased to be supporting this Hub as announced in the Government's Life Sciences Sector Plan.    The Hub will bring together cutting-edge human disease modelling capabilities and essential data to support human in vitro model development for translational research.    A funding opportunity for the Hub host site will be launched in March.    If your research institution is interested in hosting the Hub, please get in touch with us for more information: humandiseasemodels@mrc.ukri.org   The Hub will aim to: - Create more accurate predictive pre-clinical models of human disease  - Reduce the use of animals by increasing the range of robust alternative methods  - Be a national resource for in vitro model development and increase access to state-of-the-art technology, human tissue and patient samples and data across the UK  - Position the UK at the forefront of human in vitro model development for medical research

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A new UK-US pact could reshape drug discovery as we know it. The Tech Prosperity Deal, announced this week, is aimed at accelerating advances in AI research to deliver new drugs faster, improve cancer care, and create tens of thousands of jobs. The agreement sets out joint research programmes, investment in AI infrastructure, and stronger capacity on both sides of the Atlantic to use data, compute and innovation to drive breakthroughs in healthcare. For the life sciences industry, this could mark a turning point in how AI-driven drug discovery moves from cutting-edge research into mainstream practice. Credit to the UK Government, the US Government and tech partners including Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI and Nscale for backing this collaboration and pushing the boundaries of AI in life sciences.

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In our third and final blog on the #HDRUKConference, Senior Scientific Programme Manager, Jacqueline MacArthur, discusses her experience of attending the Conference. 🚀 Jackie reflects on how the Conference provided a brilliant opportunity to showcase the work of the BHF Data Science Centre, connect with collaborators, and hear thought-provoking talks from across the UK’s health data community. 💻 Jackie talks about Artificial intelligence as a major theme of this year's Conference, and how this can transform care delivery, as well as how AI presents an opportunity to support the development of phenotype definitions. ➡️ Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/eVvMvAB6 #healthdata #blog #datascience

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New UK Biobank data release is coming to the UKB-RAP later this month! This extensive data release will include imaging data for 100,000 participants, WGS phased data VCF files for all 500,000 participants, metabolomic data for the full cohort, and more. You can find more details on the UK Biobank community: https://hubs.ly/Q03RRS3j0 As we prepare for the new release, dispensing data to projects on the UKB-RAP will be temporarily unavailable tomorrow, November 6. All other services will continue as normal and you can check the UK Biobank Community for updates. #UKBiobank #Genomics #Metabolomics #Imaging #ImagingData #PopulationHealth

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At The Festival of Genomics & Biodata London, we caught up with our Head of Development, Dirk Paul, following his presentation 'The Genome and Beyond: Advancing Drug Discovery and Development' on the Multi-Omics stage 🧬 In this short interview, Dirk shares his insights on: 🔬 Why advancing drug discovery and development through multi-omics is so important 💡 The key takeaways from his presentation 🚀 What's next for Genomics 🎥 You can watch Dirk's presentation on demand: https://lnkd.in/eEMx8qmg #MultiOmics #DrugDiscovery #Genomics #DrugDevelopment

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The Medicine Maker features insights from the team at Physiomics plc - **Modeling Isn’t Replacing Drug Development, It’s Making It Smarter** Read the full article by Peter Sargent, Hayley Close and Mark Davies on how drug development doesn’t fail because teams lack data, it fails because they lack confidence in which decisions matter most. As therapies become more targeted and trial designs more complex, mathematical modeling is becoming a critical tool for reducing risk, optimizing dose strategy, and focusing resources where they will have the greatest impact. Model-informed drug development allows teams to simulate scenarios, prioritize promising doses, and design more efficient trials, helping teams move faster with fewer patients and better go/no-go decisions. Unlike many AI approaches that depend on large historical datasets, mechanistic models are built on biological and pharmacological principles, making them especially valuable for novel modalities and first-in-human programs where data is limited. This approach is also increasingly aligned with regulatory priorities, including initiatives like FDA’s Project Optimus, which emphasize smarter dose optimization and reduced patient burden. Modeling helps ensure the right doses are tested earlier, improving both development efficiency and patient safety. Where modeling becomes truly transformative is at the intersection of development and clinical care. Partnerships between modeling leaders like Physiomics and precision dosing platforms like DoseMe extend these insights beyond trials into real-world patient care, creating a continuous learning loop between development and clinical delivery. As drug programs become more personalized, more expensive, and more dependent on getting dose right, modeling is no longer optional. It’s becoming essential infrastructure for modern drug development, improving confidence, accelerating decisions, and increasing the probability of success. Read the full article here: #ModelInformedDrugDevelopment #MIDD #PrecisionMedicine #DrugDevelopment #ClinicalPharmacology #PrecisionDosing #RealWorldEvidence #ClinicalDecisionSupport #DigitalHealth

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Anthropic launches Claude for Small Business - a plugin for Claude Cowork... sounds very impressive, and like it may be a lot faster and cheaper route to having solutions than paying a consultant to do simple things... https://lnkd.in/eNH83CN6

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In December 2025, NHS England quietly removed all open source policy pages from its website. No announcement.  Just 404 errors where commitments used to be.  In the same period, the same NHS solicited proposals for a Single Patient Record that requires vendor-neutral, open-standards architecture. The policy vanished. The need did not.  I have watched this pattern repeat for twenty-five years. Open standards mandates are politically convenient to announce and administratively convenient to abandon. The HHS AI Strategy requires FAIR data and open standards, with a compliance deadline of April 2026. What about 2027?  The question: if your interoperability depends on a policy page, what happens when someone deletes it?  In this piece, I argue that there are two kinds of openness. Mandated openness lives on a webpage and can be deleted.  Engineered openness lives in the data itself and cannot. When every datum carries its own constraints, its own semantic identity, its own provenance in W3C-standard formats, no policy rollback can strip that away.  The data IS the contract.  Full post: https://lnkd.in/erJfGD5h

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💡 What will it take to unlock investment in UK Deep Biotech 👉 https://lnkd.in/eaBia2Vn In this new blog, Linda Bedenik, Senior Policy & Public Affairs Manager at BIA, shares key insights from our latest analysis on funding trends and investment needs across UK #DeepBiotech. 📊 Backed by original data and real company case studies 🌱 Focus on #agriculture, food and sustainable innovation 🏗 Policy recommendations across finance, infrastructure and #regulation 🔗https://lnkd.in/eaBia2Vn

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✨ Excited to share Owkin’s new multi-year partnership with NHS Lothian to help build the foundations for next-generation agentic AI in drug discovery and diagnostics. Through this collaboration, Owkin will work with NHS Research Scotland's NRS Bioresource to access high-quality, consented clinical tissue and data, supporting the identification of new drug candidates, accelerating clinical trials, and advancing AI-powered diagnostic solutions. By combining multimodal real-world clinical data with advanced AI, this partnership helps strengthen the connection between research and care - with the goal of bringing new therapies and innovations to patients faster. Looking forward to the impact this collaboration can drive across research, clinical development, and patient outcomes. 👉 Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/eCzZZKig

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Genomics is being put on a pedestal by the NHS, by industry, by the headlines. So there must be a reason, right? There is, but it’s not the one you think. And with UK Biobank’s recent data breach, this conversation has never been so important. In our latest episode, Dr Helen Wallace (Director at GeneWatch UK) traces how decades of industry interest have partly shaped the story that your genes will tell you which diseases you'll get. The same logic that failed in 2003, when Tony Blair's government wanted to test every baby, is now being repeated with the Generation Study, where 100,000 newborns’ genomes will be sequenced up and down the country. Genetic testing so far branches into two categories: Whole genome sequencing, that looks at all of your DNA, and polygenic risk scores, that only look at a select portion. But they are both fundamentally quite flawed. While whole genome sequencing is largely more accurate than polygenic risk scores, we still don’t know how the genome works. A large portion of it remains quite inaccessible to scientists, so analysing the whole genome won’t give you an accurate picture of what’s going on. Even for rare disease, GeneWatch UK argue that many children identified as “high risk” in the Generation study won’t develop the disease. Those that do will often develop a less-severe form.  As Wallace says, the idea that we can individually predict who will get what disease “is problematic.” A 2025 review, for example, found that a significant number of those labeled as “high-risk” of diseases like Alzheimer’s are never affected. Meanwhile, lots of “low-risk” people do. Moreover, the result you get will wildly differ depending on the company you go to. As Wallace told us previously, “you are just as likely to be getting information as you are misinformation.” Dr Andelka M. Phillips, at University of Leicester, Leicester Law School, then takes the conversation to the rather grey area of commercial tests. And while you might question “what’s wrong with them?” it may be much easier to ask “what ISN’T wrong with them?” For one, genetic data can’t really be de-identified. Despite multiple leading research initiatives in the UK claiming to anonymise your data, it’s “quite unlikely” that it won’t be able to be traced back to you, says Phillips. In the commercial setting, privacy is even more questionable, with many websites skirting around the topic of just what they can and can’t do with your data. As it stands, Phillips stresses that the regulatory environment is nowhere near ready for what's already happening, let alone what AI and quantum computing will make possible. It’s a neglected, but vital, discussion around one of the most wrongfully-dizzying trends in healthcare at the moment. Don’t miss out. Link in description. Watch Andelka's video on things to consider before buying a genetic test: https://lnkd.in/ekaEuU7E #Genomics #GeneticTesting #NHS10YP #HumanGenomeProject #UKBiobank Genetic Alliance UK

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🎙️ Episode 5 of Shaping Diagnostics is LIVE on Spotify! Join Matthew Connell, Director of Digital, Data and IT, and Sean Baxter, Head of Finance, as they share their experiences during their education and early careers that eventually led them to their roles at North West London Pathology, one of the largest pathology providers in the UK. They discuss the nonlinear career paths that build your experience and confidence, the differences between working in private healthcare and the NHS, the environmental impacts of AI and how it can benefit diagnostics, and the advice they would give to those looking to work in the NHS. LISTEN NOW👉 https://lnkd.in/eZrGR_g3 #ShapingDiagnostics #Diagnostics Institute of Biomedical Science The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Matthew Connell Angela Jean-Francois

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Great opportunity from Innovate UK and the med-tech Catapults to provide UK-based SMEs working within the Medicines Manufacturing Sector up to £90k support to accelerate technical development, business scale-up, commercial readiness or investment potential of an innovation

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Big news for UK Life Sciences today. The MHRA and Health Research Authority have launched the most significant clinical trial reform package in over two decades — coming into force today, 28 April 2026. Three things that stand out to me: 1️⃣ Speed without compromising safety — trial set-up times down from 169 to 122 days. That's not incremental; that's transformational. 2️⃣ Technology embraced at the regulatory level — computer model simulations and overseas safety data now formally accepted. The regulator is catching up with innovation. 3️⃣ Transparency made mandatory — trial registration and results publication now a legal requirement. Long overdue and a win for patients and researchers alike. For Life Sciences organisations investing in digital infrastructure, CTMS platforms, and clinical data management — the pace of regulatory change is accelerating. Your IT strategy needs to keep up. Detail you can read at - Launch of clinical trial reforms - GOV.UK https://lnkd.in/eHAjrCb7 #ClinicalTrials #LifeSciences #HealthcareInnovation #MHRA #UKPharma #DigitalHealth #ITStrategy

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Are you using role-based IR35 assessments the right way? Many businesses use role-based assessments to speed up hiring decisions. It’s a smart way to get an early view of IR35 status, but only if done properly. The key is knowing the difference: ✔️A role-based assessment helps streamline hiring. ✔️A blanket determination risks non-compliance. The distinction matters. Role-based assessments can bring consistency and efficiency – but only when combined with individual checks once a contractor is engaged. Our new article explains how to apply this approach without falling into the blanket determination trap. 👉 Read it here: https://buff.ly/WqYiHgc #IR35 #IR35assessment #IR35Compliance #Compliance #Consultation #HRnews #HR #HMRC

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