Birmingham LSW 2026 ‘preview’ event part of the West Midlands Business Festival
The focus of Life Sciences Week (LSW) 2026 is “delivery of improved health outcomes and economic growth,” organisers told a ‘preview’ event in Birmingham today.
The celebration of health tech and med tech innovation, from September 21 to 25 this year, attracts leaders in academia, pharma, private sector business, policy and public service, including the NHS.
The rapidly expanding life sciences sector currently contributes around £6bn in GVA (gross value added) to the Midlands economy. It is forecast to need to fill around 10,000 more roles by 2030, a rise of more than a third.
‘Bigger, broader and more ambitious’
This year’s LSW seeks to build on the strong foundation laid last year as it focuses on the following four key areas:
- Pharmaceutical & biotech: drug discovery, novel therapies, global research.
- Medical technology & diagnostics: tools, devices, diagnostics, clinical practice.
- Academic institutions: university research shared with the private sector.
- Investors: emerging ventures and opening doors to capital and scaling opportunities.
“LSW 2026 will be bigger, broader and more ambitious, with a greater national and international focus,” said LSW managing partner Amy Deakin at the ‘LSW 2026 preview’ event, in Hotel du Vin Birmingham, part of the final day of the West Midlands Business Festival.
On an expert panel, compered by David Kidney, chair of the LSW Advisory Board, were:
- Feroz Agad, founder and chairman of SAH Diagnostics
- Prof. Alex Richter, University of Birmingham (UoB) director of clinical immunology services
- Prof. Neil Hanley, UoB’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Head of the College of Medicine and Health
- David Chambers, head of biology at Alzheimer’s Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute
- Sian Dunning, manager of MD-Tech (Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre
- Andrew Beggs, Professor of Cancer Genetics and Surgery at UoB
As the LSW 2026 programme launched, organisers glanced back on the success of the inaugural 2025 conference:
- 41 events at 28 locations across Birmingham and the West Midlands
- 3,000 high-calibre attendees, including 110 speakers, 26 partners and 14 sponsors
- brand exposure exceeding 300,000 digital impressions
- more than £150,000 of media ad value equivalent from media coverage
‘2025 was brilliant – the job of 2026 is to surpass it’
Professor Hanley said: “Life Sciences Week 2025 was brilliant. The job of 2026 is to surpass it – and we will. With each week that passes, more and more stories emerge of tremendous successes, be it the £1bn five-year cycle of R&D that has grown in the Birmingham Health & Life Sciences District, the 250+ companies helped through the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator, or the ongoing growth of Thermo Fisher’s Binding Site scheme from what was once a start-up.”
Professor Gino Martini, CEO of the PHTA, said: “The human life sciences sector is strategically important for the UK economy, and critical to the country’s health, wealth and resilience. Life Sciences Week 2026 is an exciting nexus for our great scientists and entrepreneurs to exchange ideas. The West Midlands is a clinical powerhouse. Each year, we produce 11,000 medical science graduates from among 80,000+ STEAM students. All this in a region whose highly diverse 6m population is perfect for clinical trials.”
Professor Paul Cadman, co-founder of LSW, added: “By bringing together leaders from relevant worlds, Life Sciences Week 2026 is all about delivery. The delivery of improved health outcomes for everyday people across the UK and around the world – maximising opportunities for economic growth. Delivering the UK’s full potential in the multi-billion-pound life sciences sector.”
