BioFocus 2026 by Bionow drives innovation and collaboration

This year’s BioFocus conference brought together a mix of over 130 delegates, speakers and panellists, alongside a busy, fully booked exhibition space.

As usual, the conversations began the night before, with a very busy BioFocus edition of Biotech & Beers. It was a chance for people travelling in, as well as the local Northeast network, to catch up, make new connections and settle in ahead of the main event. With a friendly, informal atmosphere, it set the tone nicely for a day centred around sharing ideas and bringing people together.

BioFocus pulls together new companies, established businesses, support agencies and thought leaders from across the Northeast and beyond come together in a showcase of the Life Sciences sector in the region.

The programme brought together a wide range of perspectives from across the sector, with sessions spanning the state of the nation for life sciences in the Northeast, the challenges and opportunities around scaling innovative businesses and the latest technologies coming through the pipeline. Attendees heard directly from industry leaders and emerging companies through keynote talks, panel discussions and technology showcases, with a strong focus on collaboration, innovation and translating ideas into real-world impact.

The conference welcomed the insights of three keynote speakers: Managing Director of Arcinova, Christian Dowdeswell; Cancer Research Horizons’ CEO of Therapeutic Innovation, Hamish Ryder; and Mick Cooper, Life Sciences Specialist at the Office for Life Sciences.

The first presentation, “From Development to Submission Under One Roof”, outlined how integrated approaches to drug development are helping to simplify the journey from early research through to clinical trials. By bringing together development, manufacturing and clinical capabilities within a single organisation, the keynote demonstrated how products can progress more efficiently.

The presentation also highlighted changing trends in the drug development and how Arcinova is evolving. Emerging areas such as RNA‑based therapies were cited as examples of where new technologies and flexible manufacturing approaches are helping to accelerate innovation and bring new treatments closer to patients.

Hamish Ryder’s keynote, “Maximising Impact: Translating Cancer Research UK Science for Patient Benefit​”, explored how Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Horizons are working to turn world-leading cancer science into real patient benefit. It highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between discovery research and new treatments, recognising that promising ideas often face barriers such as funding, specialist expertise, development capacity and commercial risk. A central theme was the need to encourage a stronger culture of translation, where academic insight is connected earlier and more effectively with drug discovery experience.

The Office of Life Sciences’ Mick Cooper provided the final keynote with “The Life Sciences Sector Plan and Supporting SMEs”, which set out a clear and ambitious vision for the UK’s life sciences sector, showing how the Office for Life Sciences is working to build on the UK’s deep strengths in research, discovery and health innovation. It also gave a candid view of the challenges ahead: ensuring more UK breakthroughs are commercialised and scaled in the UK, attracting the investment needed for growth and helping promising new medicines and technologies reach patients more quickly.

At the heart of the plan were three priorities: backing world-class R&D, making the UK a better place to start and grow life sciences businesses, and using innovation to support health system reform. The presentation highlighted what progress would look like, from better use of secure health data and faster clinical trials to stronger manufacturing, simpler regulation and procurement, and closer partnership with industry. Encouragingly, early signs of momentum were also identified, including faster trial set-up times, new support for high-growth companies, manufacturing investment and programmes to improve access to innovative health tech, a strong signal that this is a sector moving from ambition into delivery.

Throughout the day, key themes emerged about the Life Sciences sector in the Northeast.  There is a strong heritage in innovation and manufacturing in the region, and this is shared with the wider North.  Scaling up was discussed as a challenge, with the ongoing struggle to move beyond a ‘second valley of death’ but with the right infrastructure, talent and investment, which the Office of Life Sciences’ Life Sciences Sector Plan recognises, the UK is well-placed to progress and grow companies in what is recognised as a world-class sector and one in which the region can play a key role in both innovation and manufacturing.

The theme of innovation continued in a series of presentations discussing company journeys, and the role of technology in their development. The conference also saw the introduction of a new bioincubator based in QuantuMDx’s former headquarters in central Newcastle, and how this would contribute to the continued growth of the developing Life Sciences cluster in the Northeast.

Further sessions discussed scaling, founders building and developing teams, how automation can build competitiveness and the difference between scaling and growing a business.  Key discussion points included regional laboratory space, the available talent pipeline, standard operating procedures and the merits of diversity of opinion and thought in a team.

The day concluded with the importance of building on what has already been achieved, how the challenges will evolve in the future and the recognition of people in the region coming together to address any challenges.

Bionow CEO, Geoff Davison, commented: “BioFocus is all about bringing the community together, and this year really showed that. We had some great conversations across the day, from early innovation to scaling and commercialisation, with people openly sharing ideas and experiences. It’s that mix of collaboration and real insight that makes this event so valuable, and it’s brilliant to see it continuing to grow.”

BioFocus 2026 was supported by Fisher Scientific, Equans Sci-Tech and Invest North East England.