Adsure Services PLC has announced the appointment of Veran Patel as Director of Healthcare at its subsidiary TIAA Limited. Patel, who brings over 20 years of audit and consulting experience, will lead TIAA’s healthcare business unit.

In his new role, Patel will be responsible for implementing Adsure’s growth strategy in the healthcare sector, focusing on expanding into new regional markets and developing additional services to enhance value for existing clients.

The appointment marks a significant milestone for Adsure, as it completes TIAA’s new management structure with all four market lead positions now filled simultaneously for the first time.

This development is expected to position the specialist business assurance provider to maximise organic growth opportunities across all its operational sectors.

“We’re delighted to welcome Veran to TIAA’s leadership team,” said Kevin Limn, CEO of Adsure Services.

“His track record of delivering business assurance solutions to a range of clients will further strengthen our healthcare business unit. Veran’s appointment reflects our commitment to growth across all of TIAA’s sector portfolios and our focus on meeting our clients’ requirements.”

Today’s announcement follows a recent update from Adsure Services on the deployment of K10 software to improve effencies across the business. The software will also help Adsure train its proprietary AI large language model (LLM), which is being developed to bolster their services for government-funded organisations.

AstraZeneca has announced an agreement to acquire EsoBiotec, securing the biotechnology firm’s pioneering in vivo cell therapy platform that has shown promising early clinical results.

Under the terms of the transaction, AstraZeneca will acquire EsoBiotec for up to $1 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, comprising an initial payment of £425 million upon closing and potential additional payments of up to £575 million tied to development and regulatory achievements.

Through the acquisition, AstraZeneca will obtain EsoBiotec’s innovative Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral (ENaBL) platform, a groundbreaking technology that employs highly targeted lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions directly to specific immune cells within the patient’s body.

Once delivered, these instructions programme the cells to identify and eliminate tumour cells for cancer treatment, or target autoreactive cells for potential application in immune-mediated diseases.

Traditional cell therapies involve a cumbersome process—removing cells from patients, modifying them externally, and then reintroducing them after immune cell depletion.

This typically requires weeks of preparation. EsoBiotec’s approach, by contrast, allows for administration through a simple intravenous injection without the need for immune cell depletion, potentially transforming treatment from weeks to minutes.

“We are excited about the acquisition of EsoBiotec and the opportunity to rapidly advance their promising in vivo platform,” said Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology Haematology R&D, AstraZeneca.

“We believe it has the potential to transform cell therapy and will enable us to scale these innovative treatments so that many more patients around the world can access them. EsoBiotec will accelerate and expand the impact of our recent investments and marks a major step forward in realising our ambition to harness the full potential of cell therapy.”

The FTSE 100 rallied with global equities on Friday as investors cheered the avoidance of a US government shutdown. Developments in Washington came as a welcome injection of positivity into stock after a week dominated by the uncertainty of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

• Hopes US government shutdown will be averted
• UK GDP shrinks 0.1% in January
• US futures rally
• Berkeley Group reaffirms guidance

London’s leading index rose 0.35% as S&P 500 futures rebounded and European cash equities ticked higher. The German Dax was 0.5% higher at the time of writing.

“They were buoyed by hopes that the US government would avoid a shutdown of non-essential services after Senate leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote to pass the latest funding bill,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

The boost provided by the aversion of a US government shutdown superseded any concerns about UK GDP, which shrank 0.1% in January, missing economist’s estimates of 0.1% growth.

“The UK economy is stuck in the slow lane, showing no signs of growth in the first month of the year. This latest data just goes to show the mountain to climb for the Chancellor to reclaim momentum and get Britain growing at pace in 2025,” said Scott Gardner, investment strategist at Nutmeg.

“While retail sales improved in January after a sluggish run into Christmas, manufacturing PMI’s remain in contraction territory. At the same time, consumer confidence stayed low at the start of the year despite wage growth remaining higher than inflation during the final quarter of last year. The latter boost to real incomes could be a potential tailwind for consumption activity in the months ahead.”

FTSE 100 movers

The FTSE 100’s rally was broad, with miners and housebuilders among the sectors leading the charge. The poor GDP reading made a rally in retailers all the more surprising as Next added 1.3% and Kingfisher jumped 2.1%.

Housebuilders were in focus after Berkeley Group issued a trading statement and reaffirmed profit guidance of £975 million over FY25 and FY26.

“There were no surprises at the door as Berkeley delivered its third-quarter update. Remarks echoed the trend seen across other housebuilding peers, with sales rates improving over the year. While these are now running ahead of last year’s level, there’s still some way to go to reach the boom of three years ago,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Management pointed to a need for greater economic stability and interest rate cuts to help drive the next leg of demand.”

Berkeley shares rose 2%, helping Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey rebound from disappointment with yesterday’s release of the most recent RICS survey.