Nearly 100 Belgian companies and universities are accompanying the minister of Social Affairs and Health, Maggie De Block, at this year’s world’s largest global event for Biotechnology. The BIO International convention will be held on June 6-9 in San Francisco (US), hosting over 15,000 biotech and pharma leaders from 70 countries. The convention is intended to open the doors for potential partnering opportunities among scientists, biotech and pharma, investors and international policy makers.
De Block will represent the Belgian biotech sector at the Global Life Science Meeting, organized by ICBA (the International Council of Biotechnology Associations) and will focus amongst others, on the future of the pharmaceutical industry as well as the M-health initiative on mobile health. The Belgian biotech industry will also be featured in the scientific seminar “Bridging North American & Belgian Excellence in Innovative Health,” backed up with a talk by Paul Stoffels (CSO Johnson & Johnson) and by the highly popular ‘Belgian Café’. Our own CEO, Ann Van Gysel, is also joining this convention and will put in a word for Belgium too!
“The Belgian biopharma is a hot topic,” adds Cathy Plasman, General Secretary essenscia / bio.be, who as well is present at the Bio International Convention. “We are pleased that Minister De Block is here with us, to promote the unique strengths of Belgium, a harbor for biopharmaceutical companies. Currently, new applications in the biotech such as 3D printing and nanotechnology will accelerate the development of promising therapies. It is therefore very important that a legal framework is established quickly, so that these new resources can be used to help patients. This is essential if we wish to strengthen the leading position of the Belgian biotech in innovative therapies.”
FlandersBio and Flanders Investment & Trade, the Flemish Agency for International Business, facilitate the participation of Flemish companies at the BIO convention.
