ASEBIO: 700 Companies with 1.400 Participants Attend BioSpain 2010

MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Spanish Bioindustry Association (ASEBIO) and the Navarre Society of Development (Sodena), under the Government of Navarre, celebrated BioSpain 2010 in Pamplona, from September 29th to October 1st where attendance was over 1.400 participants.

“Venture capital has lost its entrepreneurial mindset; right now -he stated- investors leave their decisions in the hands of external consultants who, in many cases, are too critical about financing projects”

This event hosted about 2.200 business meetings, through the partnering system, among 700 companies, of which 21.5% came from other countries. This percentage corresponds to 150 foreign companies and institutions that have decided to come to Spain seeking new business opportunities in the biotechnology industry. This represents a 55% increase in the number of attendees as compared to BioSpain 2008. This data turns BioSpain into the most important event organized by a Southern European country in this sector. Official sponsors included important companies such as Merck, Zeltia, AB BIOTICS, Genetrix, Genoma España, Caja Navarra and the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX).

This year, BioSpain 2010 had 132 stands at the fair, a 15% increase as compared to the previous edition. These were taken by 160 companies, of which 24% came from other countries (38), highlighting its international character as the most important feature of the event. The main countries, represented by their number of participants, were: France, with 28 companies; UK, with 16; United States with 16; Germany, with 12; Canada, with 6; Italy with 6; Israel with 9; Portugal with 8; Switzerland with 4; Belgium with 4; Denmark with 3 and Mexico with 3.

On September 30^th, BioSpain 2010 was honoured with the presence of the Science and Innovation Minister, Cristina Garmendia. The Minister visited the entire trade fair and also “Tu Casa Biotech”, a travelling exposition of ASEBIO that was held under a tent in the Plaza del Baluarte, in Pamplona, from September 24th to October 3rd.

BioSpain 2010 had three internationally prestigious plenary keynote speakers. Carlos Cordón-Cardo, Vice-Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Columbia University, spoke about tumour stem cells. “If we don’t understand where the cancer stems from we won’t be able to understand its final course”, he said. According to the expert’s speech, “the most effective strategy is to identify these cells in the tumours and metastasis given they constitute the origin of the cancer, so that we can attack them afterward”, he explained.

Larry Fritz, President and CEO of Covella Pharmaceuticals and Venture Partner at Westfield Capital Management Company, highlighted the need to reconsider the current venture capital model. “Venture capital has lost its entrepreneurial mindset; right now -he stated- investors leave their decisions in the hands of external consultants who, in many cases, are too critical about financing projects”.

Conny Bogentoft, Chief Scientific Officer of Karolinska Development AB, explained that “it gets harder and harder to obtain financing and the financial crisis is weakening investment in R&D&I”. This expert described the model of the unit he directs, focused mainly on “building bridges between the academic world and the pharmaceutical industry. “It is necessary to have a good patent protection policy available”, he emphasized.

In the Investment Forum, five projects were chosen out of 30, from Allerayde UK, Araclon Biotech, Laboratorios Alpha SIP, TCD Pharma and Vivia Biotech, who attended the European Venture Summit (December 6th to the 7th in Dusseldorf) to compete with 145 European projects selected in other similar events organized by Europe Unlimited.

As in earlier editions, the scientific program of BioSpain 2010 was led by the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBIOT) under BIOTEC 2010. This society chose Carmen Vela as the new President of SEBIOT, taking the place of José Luis Garcia.

The sixth edition of BioSpain will be held in 2012, as it is a biennial event. The venue will be announced in upcoming months.

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