2023 Biocat Report: looking back on year of leadership and drive
The 2023 Biocat Report of Activities, published in July, presents on one hand the programs Biocat led last year and, on the other, the projects and activities we devoted the most resources to or that had a notable impact, based on the organization’s strategic priorities.
2023 was a noteworthy year, marked by the strategic high impact projects we led and fueled, as well as the Board of Trustees’ approval for the new Strategic Plan for 2024-2027, an instrument with the five challenges that are having and will continue to have an impact on the BioRegion of Catalonia, which have been identified by various stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Biocat played a crucial role in prioritizing and promoting strategic initiatives that aim to better position Catalonia in key areas like research, innovation and healthcare. One clear example of this was our leadership in the Healthcare System Access Program (PASS) and the Advanced Therapies Network of Catalonia, projects promoted by the Government of Catalonia. As a result, in September 2023, the Subcommittee on Innovation Adoption in Healthcare, coordinated by Biocat, presented its Operating Plan with pathways and mechanisms for getting innovations into the Catalan Health System. A few months later, in December, Biocat presented the Action Plan for the Advanced Therapies Hub of Catalonia to position the BioRegion of Catalonia among European leaders in this arena.
As President of the Government of Catalonia Pere Aragonès highlights in the prologue to the report, “There is no question that Biocat is an essential stakeholder for the whole ecosystem. They have taken the lead, acting as a driving force for the sector and transmission belt among the various stakeholders that make up the ecosystem.” And he adds, “Catalonia has become one of the most competitive healthcare innovation hubs in Europe. This potential is made clear in the data presented in the Biocat 2023 Report of Activities.”
So, let’s look at the priorities and activities the team worked on last year, which you can read more about in the Biocat 2023 Report of Activities.
Driving technology transfer, talent, acceleration and investment
In 2023, Biocat continued developing innovation programs, training professionals and entrepreneurs, accelerating projects and facilitating access to capital and investors. Some of the most noteworthy projects included the sixth edition of CRAASH Barcelona, with six teams selected (Embryocure, Fecundis, Intelligent IDAM, MedBrain, Time is Brain, Ysotope Theranostics), and the first edition of d·Health Barcelona Part Time, a hybrid format with four multidisciplinary teams doing clinical immersions at four benchmark hospitals in Catalonia: Hospital Universitari Parc Taulí – Oncology Unit, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital – Rehabilitation Unit, Bellvitge University Hospital – Neurology Unit, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital – Nephrology Unit.
Plus, Biocat hosted Tech Transfer Day, the second annual meeting of technology transfer offices in Catalonia, bringing together nearly 70 professionals. The launch of the new Invest BioRegion Portal was another remarkable success. This matchmaking platform seeks to raise awareness of Catalan startups and projects in the BioRegion.
International positioning and influence
One of the main focal points of Biocat’s strategy is internationalization of the BioRegion, and 2023 saw several actions to forge partnerships with European and international stakeholders, project the BioRegion’s assets and facilitate access to international markets. Some significant projects include EDAH, which promotes a shared health data space for Europe, hosting events and panel discussions to analyze Catalonia’s preparedness in the face of this challenge. Biocat also presented the project to Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and published studies on the state of digital health in several European countries.
Plus, Biocat took part in several Horizon Europe projects, including INNAXE, which seeks to foster interconnectedness among European ecosystems and improve their ability to innovate, and FLASH, which analyzes funding mechanisms in European healthcare systems. Other initiatives that stand out include SafeNMedTech, a platform for medical devices based on nanotechnology, and EATRIS Plus, which has created tools for personalized medicine in Europe. Under the framework of BioMan4R2, surveys and focus groups were used to map the bioproduction and medical technologies needs in Catalonia, and BRIGHT analyzed the digital maturity of the sector in various European regions.
Finally, in 2023 Biocat reinforced its international presence by taking part in the Annual Meeting of the Council of European BioRegions, where Montserrat Daban was named president of the Board. Biocat also took part in the Joint Industrial Cooperation Forum of HERA, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority of the European Commission, and signed the European Commission Pact for Skills, reaffirming Biocat’s commitment to developing healthcare skills in Europe.
Own voice and strategic influence
With the goal of helping dynamize and maximize visibility of the stakeholders in the ecosystem, generating a sense of belonging and facilitating interactions that have a positive impact on their activity, Biocat rolled out a series of actions to reinforce and guarantee the BioRegion’s good reputation on a local, national and international level.
The presentation of the 2022 BioRegion of Catalonia Report in February 2023 brought together over 600 people from the sector, consolidating it as a not to be missed event for the ecosystem. This edition of the report, made possible thanks to collaboration from the associations CataloniaBio & HealthTech, Farmaindustria, Fenin; and companies Amgen, ESTEVE, Almirall and Alira Health, shows a growing segment of startups and scaleups that beat all-time funding records, and indicators that consolidate the BioRegion as one of the most dynamic healthcare innovation hubs in Europe and the best in Spain, constantly welcoming new international innovation centers and multinational corporations.
The presentation of the Report kicked off the first edition of Barcelona Health Innovation Week, with four days of activities by 20 organizations to raise awareness of the wealth and diversity of the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem in the region.
It is also important to note Biocat’s ability to attract and host international fairs. One clear example of this was the success of BIOSPAIN 2023, one of the biggest biotechnology events in southern Europe, held in Barcelona thanks to the coordinated collaboration of Biocat, the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council. The fair beat records and has consolidated the city as a noteworthy location for future editions. International events were also held in Barcelona, including 4YFN, with over 45 healthcare startups from the BioRegion.
One of Biocat’s goals is to raise visibility of the BioRegion of Catalonia and its stakeholders. To do so, the organization works to provide updated information on the healthcare and life sciences sector for professionals and the general public, both locally and internationally, through various communication channels. The main tools Biocat uses to disseminate the activity of the BioRegion are media outlets, the Biocat website that was relaunched in late 2023 with a more modern look and feel and better functionality and accessibility, newsletters and social media. This section has the indicators for the website, social media, newsletter and impacts in media outlets.
