Imperial Professor and peer failed to declare shares in health firms to House of Lords

An investigation undertaken by The Guardian has revealed that Lord Ara Darzi, Honorary Consultant Surgeon at Imperial College Hospital NHS Trust, and the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery held undeclared shares and share options on his House of Lords register of interests.

The House of Lords requires all peers, as lifelong members of Parliament, to maintain transparency regarding their commercial interests. A separate Freedom of Information Request by Felix revealed that Lord Darzi had revealed his interests to Imperial College London.

Lord Darzi’s share options were above the registrable amount of £50,000 (later changed to £100,000 in September 2023) for the duration of his directorship of Evelo Biosciences between 2018 and 2022, and until June 2023 when his interest in the company ended.

Darzi’s lawyers told The Guardian he had not realised peers were required to register share options, and that his failure to do so was “an oversight”. He acknowledged that he should have declared them.

“Lord Darzi has devoted his life to the advancement of medicine and scientific discovery, and over the course of this he has worked both with government and industry to improve the health system and support the life sciences sectors in this country. He has gone to great lengths to ensure that there have not been conflicts of interests, perceived or otherwise,” the lawyers said.

“It has recently been brought to Lord Darzi’s attention that the share options he was granted as part of his role as director of Evelo, Montai Therapeutics, Harbinger Health and YourBio Health and his subsequent personal investment to support Evelo and Montai Therapeutics’s scientific research exceeded the reportable threshold for the House of Lords register. He has acted immediately to rectify this oversight and update the entry on the register. Lord Darzi is very grateful to the Guardian for helping bring this oversight to light.”

Lord Darzi, who recently made Time magazine’s 100 list this year, has several roles across Imperial and beyond the College. He most recently led a government review into the NHS, but has previously worked in the Department of Health, as well as the UK’s Global Amabassadaor for Health and Life Sciences. Lord Darzi is also a member of the Privy Council.

At Imperial, he has led the Fleming Initiative, a joint venture between Imperial College and Imperial College NHS Trust, seeking to combat anti–microbial resistance across the globe. According to Lord Darzi’s Imperial about page he has published “over 800 peerreviewed research papers to date” in the fields of surgical practise “through innovation in surgery” as well as “enhancing patient safety and the quality of healthcare”.

Evelo Biosciences, a start–up formed in 2014 by US venture capital firm, Flagship Pioneering, researched the interface with microbes and the immune system. Lord Darzi held a role as chair of the “health security initiative” of its UK operations. However, disappointing clinical trials led to the dissolution of the company in November 2023.