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The Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC) in Barakaldo (Vizcaya) is the venue of BioSpain 2016, the eighth of these biennial biotech gatherings, the most important event in this sector in Europe and permanently held in Spain, and fifth-ranked event worldwide for the number of partnering meetings held.
IRB Barcelona’s Innovation Office will be in Bilbao from 28 to 30 September to participate in BioSpain, the main biotech gathering in southern Europe and the fifth-ranked event worldwide on the basis of the number of partnering meetings held. The 8th BioSpain Congress is expected to involve 2,000 participants, 855 companies, and approx. 50 investors.
“BioSpain is an opportunity for industry to encounter innovation. It allows us to raise awareness of IRB Barcelona and to promote our portfolio of technologies to potential industrial partners on a one-to-one basis. In addition to providing the opportunity to network, BioSpain gives us the chance to tune into new needs and market trends—information that we can later apply to our transfer strategy”, explains Tiago Botelho, Industrial Liaison at IRB Barcelona responsible for strengthening ties between the institute and industry.
IRB Barcelona’s innovation portfolio includes projects that form part of BioMedTec, a programme seeking to foster innovation at the institute and that is supported by the Fundación Obra Social “la Caixa”. “This will be the fourth time that IRB Barcelona participates in BioSpain. Our presence in this event is paramount because of the high presence of the sector and the international visibility of the event. In Bilbao we will be looking for opportunities to collaborate and synergies for projects in various stages of development, and we are convinced the gathering will be a success,” explains Cristina Horcajada, head of the Innovation Office.
Seventeen counties have confirmed participation in this year’s event, in which the US is the guest country. Increased interest in the Spanish biotech sector in the BIO International Convention in San Francisco (California, US), together with the fact that last year this sector showed proven international competitiveness, has brought about a considerable increase in participants from North America in this year’s event.
Biospain 2016 will be held during European Biotech Week, from 26 September to 2 October, and will be one of the most important events in Europe during that week.
In its last gathering, held in Santiago de Compostela in 2014, Biospain involved 200 stands, 2000 participants and 855 companies and institutes from 37 countries. There were 3,327 one-to-one meetings and 50 scientific conferences, and 720 products were presented for licensing out.
More information: Biospain 2016
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
