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Kate Bingham

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The Honourable
Dame Kate Bingham
DBE HonFRS HonFREng
Born
Catherine Elizabeth Bingham

(1965-10-19) 19 October 1965 (age 59)
London, England
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (MA)
Harvard University (MBA)
OccupationVenture capitalist
Spouse
​
(m. 1992)​
Parents

Dame Catherine Elizabeth Bingham (born 19 October 1965[1]) is a British venture capitalist.[2] She is a managing partner at a venture capital firm, SV Health Investors.[3] In 2020, Bingham chaired the government's Vaccine Taskforce, steering procurement of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[4]

Early life and education

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Bingham was born in London, the only daughter of the barrister and judge Tom Bingham (later Lord Bingham of Cornhill) and Elizabeth (née Loxley) and the eldest of their three children.[5] She attended St Paul's Girls' School, London,[6] before going on to study at the University of Oxford where she was an undergraduate student of Christ Church, Oxford. She graduated with a first-class MA in biochemistry .[7]

Bingham then pursued further studies at Harvard Business School, taking the degree of MBA.[8] She has an honorary doctorate from Imperial College London.[9]

Career

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Bingham worked in business development for Vertex Pharmaceuticals and consultants Monitor Company before joining Schroder Ventures in 1991 (now SV Health Investors).[10][11] She became a managing partner specializing in biotechnology, and has served on the boards of companies in the UK, US, Ireland, Sweden and Germany.

As of January 2021 Bingham is listed as being a director of the following active companies:[2] Mestag Therapeutics Ltd; Cybele Therapeutics Ltd; Bicycle tx Ltd; Bicycle Therapeutics plc; Sitryx Therapeutics Ltd; Pulmocide Ltd; Autifony Therapeutics Ltd; Bicycle RD Ltd; SV Health Investors Ltd (whose subsidiaries include the Dementia Discovery Fund);[12] and SV Health Managers LLP.

She also serves on the boards of the Francis Crick Institute[10] and the British government's Advanced Research and Invention Agency.[13]

HM Government appointment

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In May 2020 Bingham was appointed chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, without a competitive recruitment process.[14] The taskforce was set up to manage the path towards the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and its global distribution.[7] In this temporary unpaid role,[15] which finished at the end of the year,[15] she reported to the prime minister.[7] In October, she was one of the participants in a trial of a vaccine by Novavax.[16] Dame Kate's account of the risks, criticism and political interference she faced are discussed in her book The Long Shot which was published in October 2022 with all proceeds going to the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE).[17] In this she detailed the need for a specialist health communications capability to launch a national Vaccines Registry which was a core part of the vaccine procurement and development strategy and that this was contracted by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.[18] According to leaked documents seen by The Sunday Times, Bingham charged taxpayers £670,000 for a team of eight full-time consultants from London PR agency Admiral Associates.[19]

Dame Kate's work on the UK's vaccination rollout programme has been praised by scientists and international media,[20][21][22][3] particularly for securing 350 million doses of six vaccines and setting up infrastructure for clinical trials, manufacturing and distribution.[3]

Awards and honours

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In 2016 Bingham received a Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bath. In January 2017 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the BioIndustry Association UK.[11]

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for "services to the procurement, manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines",[23][24] Bingham was also admitted to the Freedom of the City of London in that year.[25] She was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2023[26] and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering later the same year.[27] She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences[28] and holds honorary fellowships from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine [29] and the British Pharmacological Society [30]

Views on science policies

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Bingham has expressed views on how the UK covid vaccination programme could have been better run,[31] and on how UK potential in life sciences could be improved.[32][33] She published her account of the seven months she spent chairing the Vaccine Taskforce in her book The Long Shot, in which she shared lessons for future pandemics and offered advice on how government could work more successfully with industry.[34]

Personal life

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Bingham married Jesse Norman in 1992; the couple have two sons and a daughter.[35] Norman is a Conservative Party politician and a member of Parliament since 2010, who held various ministerial posts from 2016 to 2023.[36]

References

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  1. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London, UK: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 376 (BINGHAM OF CORNHILL, LP). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ^ a b "Catherine Elizabeth BINGHAM". Companies House. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Cookson, Clive (13 November 2020). "Scientists defend controversial head of UK vaccine task force". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Objectives of the Taskforce". gov.uk. 22 February 2023.
  5. ^ Tominey, Camilla (19 March 2021). "Kate Bingham exclusive interview: 'EU leaders undermining the vaccine are completely irresponsible'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  6. ^ Johnson, Rachel (23 June 2001). "From here to maternity Conventional thinking says women waste a brilliant education by becoming full-time mothers. Not so, says Rachel Johnson". Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Kate Bingham appointed chair of UK Vaccine Taskforce". GOV.UK. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. ^ "In the UK, She Leads the Search for a COVID Vaccine". Harvard Business School. 23 August 2020. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  9. ^ Rathod, Nikita (4 May 2022). "Postgraduate students celebrate academic success at graduation".
  10. ^ a b "Kate Bingham, Board Member". Francis Crick Institute. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Kate Bingham, Management Partner". svhealthinvestors.com. SV Health Investors. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  12. ^ "SV Health Investors UK Limited: Annual Report and Financial Statements". Companies House. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Research agency supporting high risk, high reward research formally established" (Press release). 26 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Boris Johnson's profligacy problem". The Economist. 14 November 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Covid-19: Vaccination targets could be exceeded, says Kate Bingham". BBC News. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  16. ^ Merrifield, Ryan (14 October 2020). "Oxford coronavirus vaccine boss warns UK won't get back to normal until at least July". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Dame Kate Bingham book launch, Skylon Park. Friday 21st October 2022". nmite.ac.uk. New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering.
  18. ^ Kuchler, Hannah (18 October 2022). "The Long Shot — Kate Bingham on Britain's Covid vaccine rollout". The Financial Times.
  19. ^ Pogrund, Gabriel (7 November 2020). "Vaccine tsar Kate Bingham runs up £670,000 PR bill". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  20. ^ Bolzen, Stefanie; Guerrera, Antonello (6 February 2021). "Former UK vaccines chief says yes to Russian jab if data is good". DIE WELT. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  21. ^ Landler, Mark; Mueller, Benjamin (29 January 2021). "Vaccine Rollout Gives U.K. a Rare Win in the Pandemic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  22. ^ Balls, Katy (6 February 2021). "Secrets of the Vaccine Taskforce's success". www.spectator.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  23. ^ "No. 63377". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2021. p. B8.
  24. ^ Malnick, Edward (5 June 2021). "Exclusive: Queen to honour Kate Bingham with a damehood". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  25. ^ Lord Mayor Russell on Twitter
  26. ^ Anon (2023). "Kate Bingham". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society.
  27. ^ "Royal Academy of Engineering welcomes 73 new Fellows". Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Fellow". The Academy of Medical Sciences.
  29. ^ "Annual General Meeting 2021" (PDF). Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine.
  30. ^ "Honorary Fellows' Directory". British Pharmacological Society.
  31. ^ "The Long Shot — Kate Bingham on Britain's Covid vaccine rollout".
  32. ^ Bingham, Kate (24 January 2023). "Britain is losing its chance to become a life sciences superpower". The Financial Times.
  33. ^ Bingham, Kate (22 June 2023). "Kate Bingham: we have a golden opportunity to give the NHS a hand". The Times.
  34. ^ Sylvester, Rachel (15 October 2022). "Kate Bingham: No 10 felt I was getting too big for my boots". The Times.
  35. ^ Merrick, Jane (7 October 2012). "Jesse Norman: 'The British people are crying out for leadership'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  36. ^ "Jesse Norman: Parliamentary career". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
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