News

Madrid, September 15th 2010

BioSpain will host 1,500 business meetings in which more than 600 companies will come together

 

BioSpain 2010 will host 1,500 business meetings, 50% more than the previous event, between more than 600 companies, 23% of which are not Spanish. This percentage includes 138 foreign companies and institutions, which have decided to come to Spain to find new business opportunities within the biotechnology sector. This figure has increased by 55% as compared to the number of foreign companies that attended BioSpain 2008.

These figures turn BioSpain into the most important biotechnology-related event held by a Southern European country and it has also become a pioneer in Spain regarding the introduction of the partnering system whereby bilateral meetings between companies are fostered.

Pamplona will be the host city for this fifth BioSpain event (www.biospain2010.org) to be held from September 29th to October 1st. This biannual event is organised by the Spanish Association of Biocompanies (ASEBIO) and on this occasion it also has the collaboration of the Navarre Government, through the Navarre Development Association (SODENA) with a view to disseminating biotechnological knowledge in Spain and contributing to its development. In turn, the event will be officially sponsored by companies as prestigious as Merck, Zeltia, AB BIOTICS, Genetrix, Genoma España, Caja Navarra and ICEX. The event is expected to be attended by more than 1,200 participants.

“We have found in the Navarre Government the perfect ally for the organisation of BioSpain 2010 due to its involvement in the biotechnology market and its support to the development of this sector in Spain”, explained the ASEBIO chairman, José María Fernández Sousa-Faro.

In turn, José María Roig Aldasoro, responsible for the Department of Innovation, Business and Employment of the Government of Navarre stressed that “the biotechnology sector is already a reality in Navarre, which we are determined to continue to support in the future as a means to diversify and strengthen business activities and create more job opportunities”.

BioSpain 2010 will have 132 stands in the commercial exhibition, 15% more than on the previous event. These stands will provide room for 160 companies, 24% of which are not Spanish (38), which once again underlines the international spirit of this event as one of its highlights. The main countries regarding the number of companies represented are France, with 27; United Kingdom, with 16; USA, with 16; Germany, with 12; Canada, with 6; Israel, with 9; Portugal, with 8; Switzerland, with 4; Belgium, with 4; Denmark, with 3 and Mexico, with 3.

Furthermore, BioSpain 2010 will be honoured with the presence of three internationally acknowledged lecturers, such as Carlos Cordón-Cardó, Deputy Director of the Department of Pathology of Columbia University; Larry Fritz, CEO of Covella Pharmaceuticals and partner of the venture capital firm Westfield Capital Management, and Conny Bogentoft, CEO of Karolinska Development AB. Cordón-Cardó will explain the role of tumour stem cells; Larry Fritz will lecture on how to create and develop a successful biotechnology company and Bogentoft will explain how to materialise technological transfer, in other words, how to turn an idea into a business activity.

One of the most attractive aspects of BioSpain 2010, as has been previously mentioned, is partnering, organised by the EBD Group, which consists of the organisation of bilateral meetings between companies in special rooms prepared for that aim. On the other hand, a special Forum for Investors, organised by Europe Unlimited, will also be held, with a view to finding new financing opportunities for future business projects. At the Forum, 30 companies will present their business plans before an audience made up by experts from Merck & Co, Bay City Capital, La Caixa, Ysios Capital Partners, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Forbion Capital Partners, Suanfarma Biotech, McKinsey & Company and PharmaVentures, among others.

Those in attendance will also get the chance to listen to representatives from companies and institutions at the “Speaker’s Corner”, for which an agenda packed with presentations showing the business lines and products from those groups is being prepared.

As on prior occasions, the scientific agenda for BioSpain 2010 is under the responsibility of the Spanish Biotechnology Association (SEBIOT) in support of BIOTEC 2010. This event will be honoured with the presence of prestigious scientists from the CSIC and CIMA (Spain), the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre of Aarhus University (Denmark), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Germany) and the Institute of Food Research (United Kingdom).

Biotechnological companies provide jobs for 20 people on average

According to the data published by the General Secretariat of the Ministry for Science and Innovation, biotechnological companies provided jobs for 6 people on average in 2003. Presently the average figure is 20 people whereas public investment in R&D has grown by 30% since 2006. Furthermore, the macroeconomic impact of biotechnology in 2010 already amounts to 1.2% of the Spanish GDP. In turn, the subsidies granted to the biotechnology sector by the Ministry of Science amounted to 105 million Euros in 2009, which accounts for 5.6% of the total aid allocated by the said institution. In this context, Spain is presently the second country in the OECD – behind the United States – allocating more public resources to health-related R&D+i.

According to the latest ASEBIO report, the size of the Spanish biotechnology sector regarding the number of companies has almost doubled from 2005 to 2008. In this last year, the biotechnology sector had a business turnover exceeding 31,100 million Euros and provided jobs to 108,374 people, with respective annual growths of 18.9% and 4.3%. Internal investment in R&D on behalf of biotechnological companies kept its favourable evolution and increased by 85 million Euros. The regions of Madrid and Catalonia are the leading ones in this field, closely followed by Andalusia and the Basque Country.

The Madrid Scientific Park, in collaboration with ASEBIO, has identified 430 biotechnological inventions in 2009; 57% of these were registered in the Spanish Office of Patents and Trademarks. As for scientific publications made by Spanish companies in different journals or specialised media, 177 impacts have been overall recorded pertaining to 24 different institutions (as opposed to 140 impacts from 22 companies in 2008). Last but not least, 38 product launches were made by institutions connected to ASEBIO in 2009, 101 alliances were recorded – 42% of which between biotechnological companies and public institutions – and 58 new biotechnological companies were created.

 

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