The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Life Sciences Organisation (LSO) is pleased to confirm Matthew Speers as our new CEO, effective 22nd August 2016. Matthew will take over from Dr Mark Treherne who has led the organisation since 2012 helping, along with others, to attract more than 6 billion pounds in new investment and create more than 17,000 new jobs in the sector.
Previously Matthew was the Chief Executive of PAGB (the Proprietary Association of Great Britain), which is the trade association for the branded over-the-counter medicines and food supplements businesses in the UK.
Between 2008 and 2013 Matthew was Managing Director for the UK and Ireland for UCB Pharma Ltd. He joined UCB in 2006 as Regional General Manager responsible for the smaller and mid-sized European Union countries, based in Brussels.
Earlier, Matthew spent 21 years working for large cap pharma (GlaxoSmithKline) and also has experience in management consultancy (Plexus Ventures Ltd) and the biotechnology sector (CEO of IC-Vec Ltd, a Japanese owned biotech company spun out from Imperial College London).
Matthew was a member of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Board of Management and Chair of the European Medicines Group (EMG). He has served on the Boards of the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP) and World Self-Medication Industry (WSMI).
In Matthew’s new role as CEO of the Life Sciences Organisation (LSO) he will lead a
team of civil servants and sector specialists working together to support the government’s international trade and investment strategy.
To find out more information, please see the following websites: