AseBio and Biocat present BIOSPAIN 2023 in Barcelona to over 200 people from the sector
Tuesday, January 17, the official presentation of the biotechnology event that expects to bring together in Barcelona over 1,500 professionals from the global biotechnology sector from September 26 to 28 was held at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB).
The Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio) and Biocat presented BIOSPAIN 2023 this Tuesday at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), in collaboration with the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council. The event kicked off a congress that expects to bring together over 1,500 professionals from the global biotechnology sector in Barcelona from September 26 to 28.
During the welcome event, Albert Castellanos, secretary of Enterprise and Competitiveness and CEO of ACCIÓ (Government of Catalonia), explained that “hosting events like BIOSPAIN in Barcelona shows why we have become one of the great drivers of the biotechnology sector in Europe. This year’s event will be highly strategic for promoting a key sector for our economy and society, bringing about much of the innovation and technological development in our country and acting as a great bridge between the research and business arenas.”
For his part, Félix Ortega, CEO of Barcelona Activa (Barcelona City Council) highlighted "A sector such as life sciences and health (and especially biopharma and biotech) is one of the sectors that attracts most investment, but above all one of the sectors that devotes most investment to R&D at European level. Some of these leading companies form part of our industrial fabric, promoting quality employment and the administrations - including local ones - must accompany the growth of this sector with effective support policies. Barcelona City Council is fully committed to technological and scientific innovation, to innovation in health and sustainability".
Ana Polanco, chairwoman of AseBio, predicted that, given the current context of crisis and uncertainty, biotechnology “is bringing and will continue to bring progress. BIOSPAIN 2023 will be a showcase for that and a key moment for promoting the work of a sector that is strategic for building a new economic model that is more sustainable and resilient.” As a result, Polanco considers this edition will be “like no other” and that there is an urgent need for “commitment to science and innovation by biotechnology companies.”
BIOSPAIN 2023 is returning to Barcelona after 20 years. And at a time when, as the 2021 AseBio Report shows, Barcelona and Catalonia lead the international rankings in number of startups, science publications and clinical trials, among others, in addition to having renowned research centers and hospitals. The same document also shows that the region accounts for 45% of all turnover in the sector in Spain.
In this sense, Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat noted that “biotechnology startups and scaleups established in Catalonia stood out again in 2022 as one of the most attractive segments for venture capital and set new investment records that year.” Plus, he advanced an “extraordinary close to 2022, exceeding expectations taking into account the international context” in terms of operations and investments.
Paula Olazábal, partner and D&I officer at Ysios Capital; Laura Soucek, CEO of Peptomyc; and Richard Borreani, Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability manager at Bayer Hispania, also took part in the event in a panel discussion moderated by AseBio CEO Ion Arocena. In this space, the participants noted the importance of BIOSPAIN and the great expectations for this 2023 edition.
BIOSPAIN: business opportunity
BIOSPAIN is one of the leading events in the sector in Europe. It brings together more than 850 innovative organizations working in health, sustainable agrifood and industrial transformation to find solutions to climate change. In previous editions, over 1,500 professionals from 30 countries attended this event with more than 200 exhibitors and over 50 investors from Spain and abroad. All this plus the strategic factor of hosting the event in Barcelona, with its great power to attract international companies, will foster new business opportunities in the sector, helping participating companies and those being set up explore new business pathways, as all the speakers confirmed.
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