APPG for Life Sciences officially relaunches at parliamentary reception

Published: 19 February 2025

The relaunched All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Life Sciences held its inaugural parliamentary reception last week. Representatives from across the sector gathered with MPs and Peers to see first-hand how the UK life sciences sector is delivering innovations that benefit both NHS patients and the economy.

Life sciences is key to the Government’s growth mission, as well as its ambition to build an NHS fit for the future. Backed by a mix of public, industry and charity funding, the sector plays a critical role in tackling medical challenges, from cardiovascular disease to cancer.

This reception brought together 200 people with 20 parliamentarians to showcase how world-leading innovations are being developed in universities, research institutes and companies across the UK. Speeches from APPG Chair Kit Malthouse MP and England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty highlighted the strength of life sciences, and its potential in the future.

Four photos from the APPG reception. Photo 1 is of Kit Malthouse MP speaking to an audience; photo 2 is a close-up of Chris Whitty speaking at the podium; photo 3 is of two men laughing together in front of an AMRC banner (Dr Arash Angadji from Orthopaedic Research UK and Joshua Steer from Radii Devices); photo 4 is two research fellows from UCL VR headsets.

The event featured a number of hands-on examples of research projects. These included: genomic technologies used to bolster national biosecurity and fight antimicrobial resistance; sockets for prosthetic limbs that give clinicians data-driven insights into how their fit can be improved; a 3D bioprinter that produces artificial tissue to help develop new drugs, and an AI-powered T-shirt that can identify signals of inherited heart rhythm disorders.

The APPG for Life Sciences exists to raise awareness and understanding of the valuable contribution that the life sciences sector provides to the health and wealth of the nation, as well as the important role of charities, industry and academies in supporting and funding medical research and commercialisation.

Members of the APPG Secretariat posing with signs in front of a banner showing the logos of the organisations that make up the secretariat

The APPG Secretariat is managed by a collection of charities, trade bodies and an academy. They include the the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), the BioIndustry Association (BIA), the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Versus Arthritis, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), the British In Vitro Diagnostic Association (BIVDA), and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

This story was also posted on the BioIndustry Association's (BIA) blog.