Countdown to the great event of the biotechnology sector: BioSpain 2010

The biannual competition BioSpain will take place from 29 of September and October 1 in Pamplona. The fifth edition of this international exhibition will cover scientific, political, social and financial content as well as linked to the biotechnology business development and trade promotion. On this occasion, BioSpain will include a forum for employment where companies of the sector and new professionals will focus on opportunities for employment and table of discussion with participants from various countries specialized in biotechnology. The program is divided into plenary and parallel sessions, with the presence of speakers from leading countries in biotechnology, where will cover topics of interest, such as alternative stock market, the food and health, bio-fuels, etc.

As in previous calls, BioSpain 2010, organized by the Spanish Association of Biocompanies (Asebio), held the Scientific Congress organized by the society Spanish of biotechnology (Sebiot), Biotec 2010. Its main themes include: environmental biotechnology, of systems, Biocatalysis, health biotechnology, technologies of diagnosis, agri-food biotechnology, nanobiotechnology, Bioinformatics, among others. The profile of the public interested in this meeting is broad, ranging from companies to researchers from academic institutions, foundations and organizations related to biotechnology. In the last edition, 2008 BioSpain, in Granada, was attended by 1,100 visitors from 26 countries and 120 exhibitors.

The Spanish biotechnology sector is booming. Internationalization, national and international partnerships and technology transfer are key points in their development and contribution to economic growth. Here, Spain is characterized by its research background, not only from public but also from private. In fact, 117 inventions were identified in 2008 and there were 140 contained in specialized publications. The number of companies that make use of biotechnology is 764, While the strictly biotechnological added 257, according data from the National Institute of statistics. 90.5% Of the national biotechnology companies have fewer than 250 employees. Currently, the annual growth in income and number of employees is 16% and 18%, respectively. Four years ago, Spain was placed in the eighth position in the ranking of biotechnological companies, ahead of countries like Switzerland, Finland or Austria, and behind others such as Holland. In 2007, the Spanish biotechnology sector 26.150 billion euros and moved some 104,000 jobs.