Early stage innovation underpins positive outlook at BIO-Europe Spring 2017 in Barcelona

The eleventh annual BIO-Europe Spring international partnering conference wrapped up in Barcelona, Spain this week with over 2,500 attendees representing executives from the life sciences who engaged in 15,070 one-to-one partnering meetings vying for 3,294 licensing opportunities on offer. The event welcomed 1,450 companies overall, including nearly 200 delegates from the Catalonia region, according to Biocat CEO Albert Barberà. Produced by EBD Group, the event is co-hosted by Biocat, the organization that coordinates and promotes the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia, and the Government of Catalonia.

“We are very pleased at the success of BIO-Europe Spring in Barcelona as it reflects the energy and optimism in the international life science sector despite recent challenges,” said Anna Chrisman, Group Managing Director, EBD Group. “We look forward to another great event in Amsterdam in 2018.”

The opening plenary, “Innovation in an uncertain world,” moderated by Alex Lash, National Biotechnology Editor of Xconomy, featured panelists Annie De Groot, CEO and CSO, EpiVax; Ji Li, Executive VP and Global Head of Business Development, BeiGene; and Kevin Sin, VP, Oncology Business Development, Genentech Partnering. The panel agreed that this is truly a time of tremendous technological change, and speculated about proposed NIH cuts and the unwelcoming political climate in the US and what it could mean for the next generation. Look for the video soon on Insight.

"Biocat is very committed to encourage healthcare entrepreneurship,” said Biocat’s Barberà. “We have a vibrant startup ecosystem and these kind of competitions are a great platform to showcase the potential of our projects, such as Peptomycs, the winner of the J&J slam."

A feature of the program was the Startup Slam, a pitching competition that offered emerging entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their innovative technologies to a panel of judges comprising business development executives, venture capitalists and industry experts. The winning pitch, given by Laura Soucek, CEO, Peptomyc, received a complimentary registration to BIO-Europe® 2017 in Berlin, November 6–8, 2017 from EBD Group and mentorship from Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the event sponsor.

The program, in additional to the robust partnering activity, is tailored to the business development goals of decision makers from biotech, pharma, finance and investors and service companies who attend. The event is traditionally a strategic innovation and investment benchmark for companies along the drug development value chain.

BIO-Europe Spring 2018 will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 12–14, 2018, and is sponsored by HollandBIO.

Jan Raaijmakers, Chairman of Top Sector Life Sciences & Health, said “Health~Holland actively stimulates, facilitates and supports partnerships to speed up innovation and boost solutions that improve health. We are most pleased to welcome BIO-Europe Spring 2018 to the Netherlands. Hosting this important partnering conference in Amsterdam not only reflects our leading position, it will gain momentum for further growth too.”

For continuing news coverage about BIO-Europe Spring, including video interviews and articles on life science dealmaking, go to Insight or follow the conference hashtag #BIOEuropeSpring on Twitter or Instagram.