Dame Catherine Elizabeth Bingham (born 19 October 1965), known as Kate Bingham, is a British
venture capitalist
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
.
She is a managing partner at a
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
firm, SV Health Investors.
In 2020, Bingham chaired the
UK Government
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's
Vaccine Taskforce, steering procurement of
vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. s and the strategy for their deployment during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Early life and education
Kate Bingham was born in London, the only daughter of the barrister and judge
Tom Bingham (later
Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Sir Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, (13 October 193311 September 2010), was an eminent British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. He was described as the greatest lawyer o ...
) and Elizabeth (
Loxley) and the eldest of their three children.
She attended
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.
History
St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...
, London,
before going on to study at
Christ Church, Oxford, where she graduated with a
first-class degree in
Biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
(
MA).
Bingham then pursued further studies at
Harvard Business School, taking the
degree of
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
.
Career
Bingham worked in business development for
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. It maintains headqu ...
and consultants
Monitor Company before joining
Schroder Ventures in 1991 (''now'' SV Health Investments).
She became a managing partner specializing in
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
, and has served on the
boards of companies in the UK, US, Ireland, Sweden and Germany, including Autifony Therapeutics, Bicycle Therapeutics (named for their specialism in
bicyclic
In chemistry, a bicyclic molecule () is a molecule that features two joined rings. Bicyclic structures occur widely, for example in many biologically important molecules like α-thujene and camphor. A bicyclic compound can be carbocyclic (all ...
peptide
Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides.
...
s), Mestag Therapeutics,
Pulmocide, Sitryx, and Zarodex Therapeutics.
As of January 2021 she is listed as being a director of the following active companies:[ 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); and SCV Health Managers LLP.
She is also a ]Trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...
of the Francis Crick Institute.[
]
HM Government appointment
In May 2020, Bingham was appointed Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, without a recruitment process. The Taskforce was set up to manage the path towards the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and its global distribution. In this temporary unpaid role, which finished at the end of the year, she reported to the prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
. In October, she was one of the participants in a trial of a vaccine by Novavax
Novavax, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland that develops vaccines to counter serious infectious diseases. Prior to 2020, company scientists developed experimental vaccines for influenza and respiratory s ...
. According to leaked documents seen by ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'', Bingham charged taxpayers £670,000 for a team of eight full-time boutique consultants from London PR agency Admiral Associates.
Dame Kate's work on the UK's vaccination rollout programme has been praised by scientists and international media, particularly for securing 350 million doses of six vaccines and setting up infrastructure for clinical trials, manufacturing and distribution.
Honours
In January 2017, Bingham received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the BioIndustry Association UK.[
Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the ]2021 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for "services to the procurement, manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines", Bingham was also admitted to the Freedom of the City of London
The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom o ...
in that year.Lord Mayor Russell on Twitter
/ref>
Personal life
Bingham married Jesse Norman
Alexander Jesse Norman (born 23 June 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Minister of State for Decarbonisation and Technology since October 2022. He previously served as Minister of State for the Americas and the Overs ...
in 1992; the couple have two sons and a daughter. Norman was elected as the Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for Hereford and South Herefordshire in 2010. He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury
The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...
in the administrations of Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...
and Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
from 2019 until 2021. They live near Builth Wells in the Brecon Beacons.[ Bingham went to school with Boris Johnson's sister, ]Rachel Johnson
Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including '' The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC One's debate programme, '' Questi ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Kate
1965 births
Living people
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
British biochemists
British businesspeople
British women biochemists
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Daughters of life peers
English people of Northern Ireland descent
Francis Crick Institute
People educated at St Paul's Girls' School
People from London
Harvard Business School alumni
Kennedy Scholarships
Venture capitalists