Other activities 2023

BIOSPAIN 2023 was held in Barcelona from September 26 to 28, 2023, the eleventh edition and a clear show of the international draw of the ecosystem in Barcelona and Catalonia. During the event, more than 2,100 people passed through the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds on Montjuïc from 975 organizations in 30 countries, well above the initial estimates.

This means the Barcelona edition had the biggest turnout in the event’s history, in number of people (up 30% from the last pre-pandemic edition in 2018), participating organizations, number of exhibitors, international representation and number of investors. This event was possible thanks to coordinated collaboration among Biocat, the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council.

Several politicians came to the congress, including President of the Government of Catalonia Pere Aragonès, Catalan Minister of Business and Labor Roger Torrent, Secretary for Business and Competitiveness for the Government of Catalonia Albert Castellanos, Barcelona Deputy Mayor Jordi Valls, Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Xiana Margarida Méndez and Deputy Director General for Innovation in the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Ignacio García Fenol, among others.

The representatives visited the BioRegion of Catalonia pavilion, where they got an overview of the scope and impact of the Catalan ecosystem from startups like Aortyx, Biointaxis, CEBIOTEX, Cytes Biotechnologies, DBGen Ocular Genomics, D-Sight, MedBioinformatics Solutions, Gate2Brain, Beyond You and Remab Therapeutics. 

In figures, BIOSPAIN 2023 saw great turnout from the Catalan ecosystem, with renowned speakers, organizations and exhibitors. More than 300 companies from the BioRegion of Catalonia participated, making up over a third of the total (975). In terms of exhibitors, more than 50 had their own stand in the exhibition space. This environment offered the possibility to collaborate with over 100 accredited investors. Plus, there were more than 5,000 partnering meetings held.

From February 27 to March 2, the startup corner coordinated by Biocat with ACCIÓ and the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS) hosted business and institutional meetings. More than 50 companies and organizations from the BioRegion of Catalonia took part, a figure that makes the healthcare sector one of the most represented at the event. Of these, 20 companies were in the space coordinated by ACCIÓ, Biocat and the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), located in the Health zone.

The startups in the joint pavilion were: Aimentia HealthTech, Anais Medical, Aortyx, Biointaxis, Breaz Medical, Gate2Brain, Genomcore, Health Circuit, Imaz Technology Innovation, Integra Therapeutics, MedBrain, Methinks, Nen Evidence Based Solutions, Newborn Solutions, Nixi for Children, Oniria Therapeutics, Time is Brain, Trialing Health, Vincer.ai and Wivi Vision.

BIO International Convention is the most important partnering event in the international biotechnology sector. In 2023, it took place from June 5 to 8 in Boston. More than 14,000 biotechnology and pharmaceutical leaders gathered for one week to discover new business opportunities and synergies. The convention was a unique opportunity for companies and institutions with ties to biotechnology to get information of great scientific and financial value, to close strategic partnerships, secure funds for projects and reach new clients. 

At this edition, Catalan Minister of Health Manel Balcells headed up the BioRegion delegation, with 44 companies and organizations and nearly 70 delegates, making up over 50% of the Spanish presence.

Biocat had its own stand at this major European fair in the biotech and pharma innovation sector to support the Catalan companies attending and to stage the passing of the baton for the 2024 edition, which is slated to be held in Barcelona. 

In October 2023, Biocat participated in BioJapan, one of the leading and most longstanding conferences in Asian biotech markets. Biocat participated with its own stand and conducted matchmaking activities with other clusters, companies, and major stakeholders in the Japanese health ecosystem.