2023/10/09

The ‘Plan Complementario de Biotecnología’ participates in BIOSPAIN 2023

BIOSPAIN 2023, one of the largest events in the biotechnology sector in Europe, featured a round table dedicated to the “Plan Complementario de Biotecnología Aplicada a Salud”. New ways to establish public-private alliances and how to create synergies that allow the translation of innovation to society have been discussed.

On September 27th, the roundtable "New Tools for the Biotechnology Industry: Plan Complementario de Biotecnología Aplicada a Salud " took place during BIOSPAIN, one of the largest international biotechnology congresses in Europe this year, with over 2,100 attendees and more than 220 exhibitors. BIOSPAIN is organized by the Spanish Association of Bioenterprises (AseBio) in collaboration with Biocat, the Barcelona City Council, and the Government of Catalonia.

In this context, the “Plan Complementario de Biotecnología Aplicada a Salud” was invited to share with attendees the scientific and technological advancements and discuss ways to promote public-private collaborations in the biotechnology sector to encourage the translation of innovation into society. Representing the seven Autonomous Communities involved in the Plan, Josep Samitier, state scientific coordinator, and representatives from the Autonomous Communities of Galicia (Mari Luz Couce Pico), Extremadura (Francisco Margallo), and the Basque Country (Jose María Mato) shared their vision and how the industry can benefit from the new tools being developed within the Plan to establish synergies between the public and private sectors.

In the following video, the scientific coordinators discuss the participation of the “Plan Complementario de Biotecnología Aplicada a Salud” in BIOSPAIN 2023.

Josep Samitier emphasized the importance of the Plan for complementing scientific initiatives across different Autonomous Communities in the field of personalized medicine, as well as technological platforms and infrastructures for advanced therapies, such as biomodels and high-throughput screening to find new drugs. Samitier emphasized the need for the creation of public-private partnerships as key elements for the success of actions like the Complementary Plan.

"The ‘Plan Complementario de Biotecnología Aplicada a Salud’ is a great opportunity to coordinate infrastructures between Autonomous Communities and the Ministry of Science and Innovation to enhance precision medicine or personalized medicine," added Josep Samitier.

Representing Galicia, and on behalf of the scientific coordinator Mabel Loza, Mari Luz Couce Pico highlighted the importance of the Plan in increasing the translational and internationalization capacity of Spanish research. Mari Luz emphasized that it is fundamental for initiatives of this kind to have long-term economic stability so that we can maximize the transfer capacity to industry and society.

In turn, Jose María Mato, scientific coordinator of the Plan in the Basque Country and general director of CIC bioGUNE – a member of BRTA – focused his participation on the importance of financially reinforcing initiatives like the Complementary Plans to make relationships viable not only between different research centers in the State but also with companies in the biotechnology sector. Mato also highlighted the fundamental role of creating tools that allow the integration of the enormous amount of scientific-medical data from the different autonomous communities to make them available to the entire biomedical and scientific community, optimizing resources used in research.

Francisco Margallo, scientific coordinator of the Plan in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, emphasized the importance of the Plan in giving prominence to entities in that region, whether research centers, universities, or companies related to biotechnology applied to the field of medicine. As an example, Margallo highlighted recent scientific advancements such as surgical robotics and artificial intelligence, 3D bio-printing, and sensor devices, which will benefit from the Plan to modernize. To conclude, Margallo emphasized the importance of conducting joint research involving the clinical, business, and scientific fields so that biomedical innovation can reach patients in the not-so-distant future.

All speakers agreed that it is essential to structurally implement a system in Spain that guarantees the continuity of initiatives like the Complementary Plans. There needs to be a specific line of public-private collaboration, in addition to infrastructures and collaborative projects, for personalized medicine innovation to reach society. Phrases like "Let's keep moving forward, together we will achieve it" or "The key to success is cooperation" summarize the essence of this roundtable.

About CIC bioGUNE

The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), located in the Bizkaia Technology Park, is a biomedical research organization conducting cutting-edge research at the interface between structural, molecular and cell biology, with a particular focus on the study of the molecular bases of disease, for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies.

About BRTA

The BRTA is an alliance made up of 4 collaborative research centres (CIC bioGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, CIC biomaGUNE and CIC energiGUNE) and 12 technology centres (Azterlan, Azti, Ceit, Cidetec, Gaiker, Ideko, Ikerlan, Lortek, Neiker, Tecnalia, Tekniker and Vicometch), with the aim of developing advanced technological solutions for Basque companies.

With the support of the Basque Government, the SPRI Group and the Provincial Councils of the three regional provinces, the alliance seeks to promote collaboration among its centers, to strengthen the conditions to generate and transfer knowledge to companies, contributing to their competitiveness, and to spread Basque scientific and technological capacity outside of the Basque Country.

BRTA has a staff of 3,500 professionals, accounts for 22% of the Basque Country’s R&D investment, generates an annual turnover of over EUR 300 million and files 100 European and international patents per year.

Spanish version