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Kate Bingham, chair of the government’s vaccine task force, is facing questions about whether she will benefit from a $ 65 million investment backed by UK taxpayers in a fund managed by her private equity firm.
Bingham, a venture capitalist married to Treasury Minister Jesse Norman, has already come under fire for allegations that she disclosed confidential information at a private investors conference and insisted on hiring expensive public relations advisers.
He is expected to leave his post at the end of the year, according to a government source who said his contract ran through January 2021 and that he had always intended to leave at that time.
Bingham “walked away” from her position at private equity firm SV Health Investors in May to fill an unpaid position as chair of the Vaccine Task Force, which aims to ensure that the UK population has access to vaccines as often as possible. soon as possible.
Two months later, SV Health Investors announced that it had secured a $ 65 million investment in its British Patient Capital (BPC) SV7 Impact Medicine Fund, which is fully funded by the UK government.
Accounts filed at Companies House show SV Health Investors earned at least £ 1.9 million in management fees linked to its operation of the Impact Medicine Fund in 2019, before the government invested earlier this year.
The accounts suggest that Bingham, as one of the company’s two managing partners in the UK, receives an annual share of the profits generated by SV Health Investors, suggesting that it could personally benefit from the fund’s performance.
His appointment to the vaccine working group was cited in the press release announcing BPC’s investment.
“In May 2020, Kate Bingham, Managing Partner of SV Health Investors, was appointed Chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force. In her work for SV, Kate’s investments in biotechnology have resulted in the launch of six drugs for the treatment of patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and cancer, making her uniquely qualified for the position, ”says the press release. .
Cabinet Office Shadow Minister Rachel Reeves said: “It is vital that the government immediately show how it has handled any real or perceived conflicts of interest with this appointment. Especially when you consider how many nurses salaries $ 65 million could have paid.
“We need quick answers. Otherwise, this appears to be yet another in a series of government appointments and contracts handed out to friends without due process. “
Nick Dearden, director of the Global Justice Now campaign group, said: “There is absolutely a conflict of interest. It is deeply inappropriate. If the governments of the less wealthy countries behaved like this, we would be giving them a lecture on ‘good governance’ ”.
When asked if the prime minister had full confidence in Bingham, a spokesperson for No. 10 replied: “Yes. The work of the vaccine working group is obviously of great importance and we have secured agreements for 350 million doses in total of six leading vaccine candidates ”.
The Labor Party had asked Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to investigate claims that Bingham disclosed confidential information about possible targets for the government’s vaccine push at a private $ 200-a-head conference.
According to a video of the event obtained by the Sunday Times, it showed financiers a detailed list of vaccines that the UK government was closely monitoring and could later invest in.
Bingham reportedly told the event: “So far we haven’t necessarily signed contracts with all of them. But they are all in our sights. ”Several of the vaccines are owned or financed by publicly traded companies.
Appearing before a joint select committee hearing last week, Bingham denied wrongdoing, describing the report as “nonsense”, “inaccurate” and “irresponsible.”
He insisted that his presentation had been based “on publicly available information and said little that the expert delegates at the conference could not deduce for themselves.”
Bingham, who reports directly to the prime minister, has spent more than £ 500,000 of taxpayer money hiring public relations consultants from a firm called Admiral Associates, rather than relying on civil service press officials, according to leaked documents. also obtained by the Sunday Times. .
The government has been repeatedly accused of cronyism in its management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dido Harding, who was appointed to run the £ 12 billion NHS Test and Trace program without an open dating process, is married to Conservative MP John Penrose. Harding does not receive a salary for his role and an advertisement for his permanent replacement is expected to be posted shortly.
The Business Department, which oversees BPC and the Vaccine Task Force, said: “Kate Bingham left her full-time position at SV Health Investors when she was appointed Chair of the Vaccine Task Force. She stated her interest in BPC’s investment in a fund managed by SV Health Investors, and appropriate mitigations have been put in place. “A BEIS spokesperson previously said:” As we have already made clear, Kate Bingham’s role as group chair work on vaccines includes appearing at conferences, speaking to the media and maintaining close contact with the broader stakeholders. “
