Jamie Holyer

Jamie works closely with Rud Pedersen’s European healthcare team to help develop the firm’s UK practice in this sector.

He is a recognised expert within healthcare policy and government affairs, patient engagement, and the role of integrated external communications to support organisations in their understanding of government and healthcare policy. Jamie has been at the forefront of commercialising healthcare innovation for over 15 years, assisting numerous corporations, patient groups and medical professional bodies to navigate complex environments on projects ranging from policy analysis and government relations, shaping healthcare system assessment of value and defining market access pathways, the role of the patient voice in the public policy environment and crisis management.

Previously, Jamie was Director of Advocacy & Access at Aurora Healthcare Communications in London. He was a client of Rud Pedersen when he served as Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Northern Europe at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, ensuring the successful reimbursement of medicines for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis and managing multiple internal and external stakeholder demands in a highly politicised environment, including all Northern European political, government and patient community relations, plans and engagements. He has built and led his own very successful healthcare specialist public affairs consultancy, Advocate Policy & Public Affairs, supporting patient access to innovation for many leading bioscience companies including Alexion, Astellas, Bayer, CSL Behring, Idis and Roche.

Earlier in his career, Jamie was a Labour Party press officer and policy adviser, having been an accomplished journalist working as a Researcher and Assistant Producer for the BBC and Meridian TV, and as a healthcare policy feature writer for leading publications including PharmaTimes, Pharmaceutical Marketing, Pharmacy Magazine and Nursing Times.

He is currently the Expert Government Affairs Adviser to Genetic Alliance UK, that represents over 200 UK patient associations, and was a founding Committee Member of Rare Disease UK, which led to the first National Plan for Rare Diseases and continues to support numerous rare disease patient communities with optimal access to healthcare.