London mayor hosts innovation booster meeting
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is hosting a meeting in the UK capital today (25 June) to discuss various options to boost innovation in the life sciences in London. These include the potential to establish a £10bn 'megafund' created by a mix of debt and equity finance that could bring together investors who would not normally invest in biomedical research and drug development. In return they could have a small percentage of the royalties from successful products or licensing revenues that result. Another option being discussed is to make use of the new InnovFin financing and advisory program set up jointly by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The initiative helps to share best practice between innovation and life science focused companies seeking to attract public and private investment in life sciences. It is expected that InnovFin will provide more than €24bn of new financing for research and innovation across Europe in the next seven years. The meeting is being hosted by the mayor along with MedCity, and the event is being supported by the EIB. Representatives from Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Silicon Valley Bank, EIB and JP Morgan are attending the event.