International Healthcare Executive, Georgina Rizik, to Lead London’s New Life Sciences Innovation District, SC1

SC1, London’s new Life Sciences Innovation District being developed in south central London, UK, has announced the appointment of a new Executive Director, Georgina Rizik.

Georgina is a leading international healthcare and biotechnology commercial executive with over 25 years’ experience across private, public and non-profit organisations.

Starting in June, Georgina will lead SC1, which was founded by King’s Health Partners, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, and Lambeth and Southwark councils. The vision of these founding partners is to create a transformative life science ecosystem in central London dedicated to innovation, creative partnerships and to improve life for our local and global communities.

Having worked in Canada, Switzerland, Germany and the UK in various leadership positions, Georgina has extensive experience navigating international healthcare systems, biotechnology businesses and the pharmaceutical industry. Her substantial expertise places her in an excellent position to foster impactful collaborations with leaders across the private and public sectors who are united in the aim to increase health and wealth both locally and globally.

Georgina Rizik, Executive Director, SC1 said:

“It is a privilege and honour to be the leader for SC1, London’s Life Sciences Innovation District. The founders have always been proactive about fostering world class innovation, while leveraging the unique diversity of south central London. I’m excited to be able to hit the ground running building on their efforts, and I’m looking forward to developing transformative partnerships with our local and global industry partners, entrepreneurs, community and stakeholders. Together, we will create a district which is truly game-changing for innovation and health equity, while solidifying London as one of the best global life sciences hubs.”

Professor Richard C Trembath, Senior Vice-President Health and Life Sciences, King's College London, and Executive Director, King's Health Partners, said:

“SC1 brings together leading healthcare and public institutions, anchored by King’s College London, and innovative businesses in a globally renowned location. The proximity we have in SC1 between health, education, business, transport links and cultural spaces makes for a remarkably primed Life Sciences environment, that will be enriched through further investment and development. We are delighted to have attracted Georgina to lead SC1 as the inaugural Executive Director, with her diverse skill set and breadth of experience across the Biotech, public and start-up sectors.”

The founding partners’ mission for SC1 is to reimagine innovation and health equity. Almost 40% of the six boroughs’ 1.8+ million residents identifying as Black, Asian and minority ethnicities with over 120 languages spoken in some areas.¹ This culturally-rich and thriving community offers SC1 a diverse and talented workforce, and healthcare researchers and companies an opportunity to innovate healthcare treatments with global applicability.

In addition to its diversity, south London’s regeneration offers a growing local economy and a wealth of entertainment, transport and cultural benefits. These unique assets place SC1 at the heart of ambitious estates plans which will offer high-quality commercially available R&D space for the health and life sciences sector, increase employment opportunities, support innovative businesses and start-ups, develop cultural programmes and nurture world-leading education.

SC1 will bring very real benefits to King’s College London researchers, staff and students, and to all the patients and communities served by its founders. Growing the stock of space suitable for healthcare and medical research will give more people access to clinical trials, improve environments in which patients are treated, and create an estimated 60,000 new high-quality jobs in our sector by 2050.

SC1’s real estate strategy is already progressing at pace, with some of the early developments including the 300,000ft² Snowsfields Quarter BioMed Hub (adjacent to Guy’s Hospital on our London Bridge Campus) and the 1.9mft² Royal Street MedTech Hub (adjacent to St Thomas’ Hospital on our Westminster Bridge Campus). It was also announced last week that the Mayor of London approved CIT’s application for a major life-sciences led, mixed-use development at Vinegar Yard – SC1’s first building. Designed in close collaboration with Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, Vinegar Yard will be a 20-storey building with a total c.370,000ft² of commercial space for NHS clinical uses, offices and co-located life science research companies.

SC1 was recently launched in London with speakers including Georgina Rizik, George Freeman, MP and Minister for Science, Research & Innovation and Dame Kate Bingham DBE, welcoming industry and investment leaders to explore the opportunities SC1 presents. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About Georgina Rizik

Georgina brings international commercialisation expertise in oncology and specialty medicine, with a career in Biotechnology (Novartis, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ipsen) that spans leadership roles in global product/portfolio strategy, lifecycle management, business development, launch planning & operations, and country roles in marketing, sales, new product planning and medical affairs. Georgina had the privilege to contribute to the local and global success for the following transformative Oncology medications: Femara®, Gleevec®, Zometa®, Xeloda®, Herceptin® and Avastin®. An advocate for global health equity, Georgina is also a pioneer in the development of innovative Go To Market strategies for Oncology Biosimilars.

Most recently, Georgina has been quite engaged in the start-up ecosystem in Canada as an Advisor to Health Tech and Biotech companies. She is an Associate (Mentor) at the Creative Destruction Lab (global accelerator) and a Strategic Advisor at VoxCell BioInnovation.

Georgina is a globally minded business leader with strategic and cultural agility having worked in Canada, Switzerland, Germany and the UK with deep knowledge of the Canadian, European, US and international healthcare ecosystems. Experienced in leading teams, these diverse roles have fostered Georgina’s entrepreneurial and collaborative skills, generating global best practices.

Georgina spent the first five years of her professional journey as a Clinical Pharmacist in Canada and holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BScPhm) degree from the University of Toronto. In 2009, she earned her executive MBA from the Kellogg-Schulich EMBA Program (Chicago, USA & Toronto, Canada).

Georgina is a purpose-driven leader who is passionate about transforming the global approach to the commercialisation of innovation to drive personalised care and health equity.

On SC1 Founding Partners

King’s Health Partners is a world leading Academic Health Sciences Centre based in south east London. It brings together three leading NHS Foundation Trusts – Guy’s and St Thomas’ now incorporating Royal Brompton and Harefield, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley – with a globally renowned university, King’s College London. King’s Health Partners tripartite mission is to pioneer better healthcare for all by integrating world class research, care, education and training. Its work translates research more rapidly into clinical practice for the benefit of patients, then effectively disseminating those advances through education and training.

London Borough of Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, working with the other co-founders, have been instrumental in helping to establish SC1. Each local authority will continue to support the development of SC1 alongside their respective public health teams. There is high level engagement from each borough, with CEO and Cabinet Member involvement on the Board, and senior management involvement in the day-to-day progression of SC1. The ongoing involvement of Lambeth and Southwark will be crucial to securing inward investment, economic development and community engagement. Cooperation with the Mayor of London’s office, other local institutions and their local business communities also facilitated by the boroughs.

Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation’s mission is to build the foundations of a healthier society. Their commitment and work are backed by an endowment, which allows them to take a long-term view while addressing the real and urgent health issues of today. At close to £1 billion, their endowment is one of the largest in the UK, made up of a diversified portfolio of investments including land and other residential, student and commercial properties, in and around their location in the South London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. They invest, partner, engage and influence to come at big health challenges from all angles. They are a family of forward-looking organisations, including Impact on Urban Health and the charities supporting Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The Foundation collaborates with communities, partners and hospitals, and use their assets to transform lives. Because a healthier society is their collective endeavours. Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation is separate from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and independent from the NHS.

¹ ONS Mid-year population estimates 2014 and 2020

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