BioUK Awards 2026 celebrate outstanding achievement and breakthrough innovations from across the Life Sciences
Winners of the BioUK Awards 2026
BioUK, the not-for-profit membership organisation focused on catalysing success in UK life sciences, today announced the winners of the 18th annual BioUK Awards following a ceremony hosted at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. Across 12 categories, including BioUK’s ‘Special Recognition Award’, the evening celebrated outstanding achievements from individuals and companies from all corners of the life sciences.
The winners of the 2026 BioUK Awards:
1. The Best Start-Up Biotech Company Award, sponsored by Milton Park, was awarded to U-Ploid Biotechnologies, which is developing a first-in-class therapeutic targeting age-related infertility.
2. The Best Emerging Biotech Company Award, sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, went to Mursla Bio, a leader in Extracellular Vesicle science on a mission to significantly improve outcomes for at-risk patients through the power of AI precision medicine.
3. The Best Early Stage Medtech Company Award, sponsored by Penningtons Manches Cooper, was collected by Calla Lily Clinical Care, a clinical-stage women’s health company developing an intravaginal drug-delivery platform targeting threatened miscarriage and IVF, with future applications across oncology, menopause, infection and live-biotherapeutics.
4. The Most Transformative Healthtech Company Award was won by Huma Therapeutics, the operating system for AI in regulated healthcare, giving health systems and life-sciences companies the ontology, primitives, and regulatory engine to launch compliant software in weeks.
5. The Most Impactful Deal Award, sponsored by Mills & Reeve, was presented to Bicycle Therapeutics, which, through agreements with the NDA, UKNNL, and SpectronRx, has created the world’s first end-to-end 212Pb radiopharmaceutical ecosystem spanning discovery and development to commercial supply.
6. The BioSeed ‘One to Watch’ Award, sponsored by EY, was presented to Calla Lily Clinical Care, which achieved the double-header accolade of winning two categories!
7. The Best Industry Support Partner Award went to Weatherden, a global clinical development consultancy helping biotech and pharma realise the full potential of their science and investment.
8. The Most Impactful CRO Award, sponsored by Gallagher, was presented to Qureight, an end-to-end imaging CRO that provides enterprise-grade imaging and precision endpoints for clinical trials with a focus on lung and heart disease.
9. The Best Established Medtech Company Award, was won by Digostics who have developed and launched the world's only home test kit for performing the oral glucose tolerance test, OGTT, the gold-standard laboratory test for detecting diabetes.
10. The Best Established Biotech Company Award, sponsored by Precision for Medicine, went to Oxford-based Sitryx Therapeutics who are pioneering immunometabolism — harnessing cell metabolism to restore immune balance and deliver lasting remission for patients with chronic autoimmune and inflammatory disease.
11. The Emerging Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by Informa, went to Stephanie Annett, Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and interim CEO of ImuPhile, a university pre-spinout company.
12. The Special Recognition Award was presented to Professor Matthew Wood, whose exceptional scientific achievements, entrepreneurial vision and commitment to patients have helped shape the future of the UK life sciences sector and advance the global fight against rare diseases, which affect more than half a billion people worldwide.
Reflecting on the 2026 BioUK Award programme, Stuart Rose, CEO, commented: “On behalf of the BioUK community, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate all of last night’s finalists and winners. The BioUK Awards bring together the very best of the UK life sciences, and this year’s finalists truly reflect the innovation, determination and scientific rigour that make our sector a leading voice on the global stage. Thank you to everyone who has supported this year’s programme, allowing us to recognise and celebrate the amazing science that is helping to bring real benefit to patients across the world.”
Jordan Abdi, CEO of U-Ploid, one of the winning companies, shared: “For too long, women’s health has been treated as a specialist corner of the life sciences. Seeing both early-stage company awards go to women’s health companies, chosen by judges from across pharma, investment and professional services, shows how much that is changing. Age-related decline in fertility is a large and growing unmet need, and it deserves the same scientific ambition as any other therapeutic area. We’re delighted to share this recognition with Calla Lily Clinical Care.”
Lara Zibners, co-founder of Calla Lily Clinical Care, a member of the WoW community and the only company that won in two different categories, added: “Winning two awards at a mainstream life sciences event is a real coup for women’s health. It shows we are not niche. For me personally, it was extra special that our team accepted the awards on Thang’s and my behalf. They are the ones who made this happen, and I’m so pleased they were standing in the spotlight for this recognition.”
BioUK warmly congratulates the winners and everyone shortlisted for their remarkable innovation and achievement. For more information, please visit www.biouk-awards.com.
About the BioUK Awards – www.biouk-awards.com/
The 18th BioUK Awards is a well-established and highly regarded awards programme for the life sciences industry, designed to celebrate innovation and outstanding achievement across all corners of the industry.
The twelve award categories recognise companies at all stages of development, as well as inspirational leadership, exciting innovation, novel and exciting approaches to unmet clinical needs, outstanding company progression and the delivery of real-life, tangible results that are destined to have a positive impact on patients.
To view the full list of finalists across all 2026 categories, please click here.
About BioUK®
BioUK® is a not-for-profit membership network that catalyses growth for the life sciences industry. Whether you’re an emerging entrepreneur, R&D SME, investor, analyst, pharma company, science park, TTO or technology/professional services organisation, we are here to give you opportunities to meet, learn, and grow.