Two senior pharma figures bring decades of industry experience to the UK’s annual health sector forum

Life Sciences Week, the UK’s annual health industry forum, has appointed two prominent figures from the pharmaceutical world to its advisory board.

This comes as the event prepares for what organisers are calling a bigger and more ambitious second edition this September.

Amjad Khan, who spent more than 15 years at Pfizer, and Shabnam Raja, who brings over two decades of experience spanning pharma, consumer health and large-scale digital transformation, will join the board in newly created roles.

Amjad takes up the position of Executive Partner, while Shabnam joins as an Advisory Partner. Both will provide strategic counsel across areas, including partnerships and artificial intelligence.

Amjad’s career at Pfizer included multiple senior leadership roles, among them overseeing the commercial launch of the company’s COVID franchise, which introduced a faster model for bringing new medicines to market.

“I am thrilled to join a team building on the strong foundation laid by last year’s inaugural Life Sciences Week,” he said.

“With our five themed days, Life Sciences Week 2026 will have a very clear focus that will offer real value to participating brands.”

Shabnam, a specialist in helping organisations translate AI, data and digital innovation into practical business outcomes, said: “Life Sciences Week is the most exciting development in the UK life sciences sector right now, with a distinct focus on delivering outcomes for the people and companies who participate.”

A sector under the spotlight

The appointments come as Life Sciences Week 2026 takes shape with a structured, themed programme across its five days, running from Monday 21 to Friday 25 September.

The week will open with a focus on national vision and societal impact, before moving through innovation and discovery, patients and real-world care, collaboration and national outreach, and concluding with a day dedicated to talent, skills and the future workforce.

The forum arrives at a critical moment for the UK’s life sciences industry. The sector employs around 360,000 people across more than 6,170 businesses, with a turnover of £14bn and £34bn in gross value added.

Pharmaceuticals alone contribute £17.6bn in direct GVA, with a further £45bn generated through research and development spillovers, underscoring the outsized returns that pharma investment delivers for the broader economy.

Professor Paul Cadman, Chief Executive of the One Thousand Trades Group and co-founder of Life Sciences Week, said: “The UK life sciences sector represents 17% of all UK business R&D spend and is the country’s third largest goods export, but since 2017 we have slipped from second to eighth globally for life sciences investment, costing around £15bn annually in lost competitiveness.

“Life Sciences Week is our way of shining a spotlight on the world-leading ingenuity and expertise that exist in this sector in the UK, and bumping us back up the leaderboard to where we should be. This year’s Life Sciences Week will be bigger, bolder and more ambitious than last year’s.”