Dr Andrea Taylor, interim CEO of Edinburgh Innovations

Andrea has more than 25 years’ experience in innovation, commercialisation and deal making in the life sciences and deeptech sectors across academia, industry and the public sector. She has been with Edinburgh Innovations since 2017 and has previously held the roles of Head of Business Development for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and Director of Strategic Partnerships.

Following a PhD in genetics at the MRC Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Edinburgh and several post-doc roles in cancer research, Andrea worked in drug discovery within the pharmaceuticals sector (Smith Kline Beecham, now GSK) and biotech (Oxford Glycosciences, latterly UCB). After this, Andrea took on senior consultancy positions with companies in Oxford and Cambridge (Pharma Ventures and Cambridge Consultants) conducting valuations and providing deal-making advice, market forecasting and due diligence to a wide range of biotechs, global industry players and venture capital investors.

Before joining Edinburgh Innovations, Andrea spent six years with Scotland’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, and Scotland's trade and inward investment agency, Scottish Development International, working with CEOs to support the growth of companies in the Scottish healthcare sector and attracting overseas companies to invest. As Head of Inward Investment at Edinburgh BioQuarter, Andrea was involved in securing several inward investors, including GSK, to locate at the site.