Doing business in Chicago

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) is participating for fourth consecutive year in the BIO International Convention (BIO), being held from 22 to 25 April in Chicago. The IRB Barcelona, together with 25 companies and 10 institutes based in Catalonia, forms part of the Catalan delegation coordinated by Biocat.

In Chicago, IRB Barcelona is seeking to increase its visibility as a potential partner in collaborations between public organisations and the industrial sector, to promote the high-performance scientific technologies and facilities that it offers, and to get up to date with the latest trends in technology transfer. According to Cristina Horcajada, head of the Innovation Department, “we are attending this event both to consolidate the contacts made in previous meetings and to make new ones.” Furthermore, she upholds that “having the opportunity to meet main agents involved face to face allows us in only three days to make the progress that would take us a whole year from the office.”

At the convention, Horcajada will be presenting some the technologies, such as shuttles capable of crossing biological barriers and a mini-pump for biological fluids that simulates blood circulation, developed by researchers at IRB Barcelona. “The recent success of the projects “Mind the Gap” and “CancerTec” serve as precedents and strengthen relationships with the different actors in the world of innovation, thus promoting opportunities to establish strategic collaborations,” says Horcajada. The head of the Innovation Department makes reference to the pre-business funding for IRB Barcelona research projects awarded by the Botín Foundation and the “la Caixa” Foundation respectively.

One of the main missions of IRB Barcelona is to transfer research results and the technologies developed to society, either as knowledge that contributes to social well-being or as economic returns. Horcajada explains that “our mission implies being in contact with the engines of development, that is to say, with companies and organisations that have the capacity to take our technologies into the market and therefore to society.”

The BIO event in Chicago is the main biotech convention worldwide. Receiving more than 16,000 delegates from 65 countries, who will hold more than 25,000 partnering and business meetings, this event offers impressive business potential. In addition, the BIO Convention offers a parallel programme that includes about 150 scientific sessions.