Lord Ara Darzi, a senior government adviser on the NHS and the author of a recent review that informed major health service reforms, failed to declare shareholdings in healthcare companies worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, a Guardian investigation has revealed. Darzi, an eminent surgeon and professor at Imperial College London, held shares and share options in four healthcare companies that were not included in his House of Lords register of interests. These undeclared interests included $500,000 of shares and $800,000 of share options in Evelo Biosciences, a US-based healthcare venture where Darzi served as a director until 2022.
Darzi’s lawyers attributed the omission to an “oversight,” stating that some of the information had been publicly available in US stock market filings. They confirmed that Darzi had requested his House of Lords register be corrected. The share options in Evelo, which Darzi held from 2018 to 2023, exceeded the Lords’ registrable value threshold of £50,000 (later raised to £100,000) for five years. Darzi’s lawyers emphasized that he never converted the options into shares and therefore did not benefit financially from them.
In addition to Evelo, Darzi holds share options above the registrable value in three other companies backed by Flagship Pioneering, a US venture capital group where he chairs the UK arm’s “health security initiative.” These companies—Montai Health Inc, Harbinger Health, and YourBio Health Inc—are not publicly listed, meaning details about their shareholders are not readily available. Darzi’s lawyers confirmed he holds shares in Montai Health Inc worth more than £100,000, which should have been declared.
The failure to declare these interests has raised concerns about transparency and trust in Parliament. Dr. Jonathan Rose, a political integrity expert at De Montfort University, said, “Breaches of the rules are corrosive to the trust that the public should be able to have in Parliament.” He emphasized the importance of adherence to disclosure rules, particularly for life peers who cannot be removed by elections.
Darzi, who was appointed to the Lords by Gordon Brown in 2007, has played a significant role in shaping NHS policy. His recent review for Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the NHS as being in “serious trouble” and recommended a “major tilt towards technology” to improve healthcare delivery. Darzi’s lawyers stressed that he took a leave of absence from his paid role at Flagship Pioneering while conducting the NHS review to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson defended Darzi, calling him a “world-renowned cancer surgeon” who has dedicated decades to the NHS and medical innovation. They confirmed that all due diligence processes were followed in his appointment.
Darzi’s lawyers said he was unaware that share options needed to be declared and described the failure as an “oversight.” They stated, “Lord Darzi has devoted his life to the advancement of medicine and scientific discovery… He has gone to great lengths to ensure that there have not been conflicts of interests, perceived or otherwise.”
The revelation comes amid heightened scrutiny of transparency in public office, raising questions about the intersection of private interests and public policy in the healthcare sector.
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