The 10th anniversary of BIO-Europe on 8th-10th November 2004, celebrated with more than 1,400 attendees from all over the world and co-hosted by the BIO and the E.B.D. Group, was also the first occasion involving the Emerging Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), representing Europe’s biopharmaceutical companies.
Advances in Life Science can reveal that EBE and BIO signed a co-operative agreement earlier in the year in order to create new opportunities for their member companies, in terms of both advocacy and regulatory intelligence.
Crucially, business development featured as a vitally important aspect of the agreement. BIO-Europe is seen to be the first concrete example of a successful co-operation between the two organisations, as Dr. Peter Heinrich said in his welcoming address, "Working together we can make the situation for biotech companies in Europe better".
BIO-Europe represents an annual forum for International decision-makers in the biotech, pharma, service and financial sectors to meet and develop partnerships. Thanks to a highly efficient system, BIO-Europe 2004 participants arranged more than 4,840 one-to-one scheduled meetings. While the majority were set up prior to the first day of the event, attendees scheduled an additional 1,000 meetings on-site. As a result of pre-scheduled meetings and networking opportunities offered by BIO-Europe, numerous attendees closed successful deals. As one delegate commented, "BIO-Europe is a great place to meet the right people in an efficient way".
In parallel to the pre-scheduled meetings, BIO-Europe ran an intensive educational programme. The first morning kicked off with workshops covering a wide range of interesting themes, setting the tone for the rest of the event. EBE organised a workshop on the future of pharma-biotech deal-making under the EU’s new competition rules governing the sector. The opening plenary gathered most of the delegates to listen to senior licensing executives from Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Novartis discussing the correct way to balance in-licensing with internal R&D.
Another important track for company presentations enabled 200 companies - including many EBE members - to deliver 15-minute overviews of their enterprises, showcasing their capabilities and further enhancing networking opportunities.
The exhibition area attracted more than 50 companies while the EBE team was on hand to inform participants about the benefits of EBE membership and the services that companies receive.
As President of EBE, Dr Heinrich was a prime mover and shaker behind the EBE-BIO co-operation. Speaking at the opening session, he emphasised the importance of the biopharmaceutical sector. "We are important not only to the economy, not only to the thousands we employ, but also to larger pharmaceutical companies and let’s not forget the waiting patients." Heinrich further highlighted the need for co-operation, "crucial to making the most of each part of the chain to add value to Europe, to its economy, to its employees, to its companies and to its patients."
"Biotechnology is responsible for almost 50% of all products in development. We’re offering new hope every day," Heinrich concluded.
Next year, BIO-Europe will be held on 7-9 November 2005 in Dresden, Germany. EBE has announced it will continue to be closely involved in the organisation of this, Europe’s largest and most successful partnering conference.
About EBE
The Emerging Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) group, based in Brussels, Belgium, represents biopharmaceutical companies operating in Europe, particularly small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and serves as a forum in which these companies can define, represent and promote their interests and activities. EBE is open to all companies engaged in research in Europe involving the application of emerging bioscience technologies with the aim of launching new healthcare products. The organisation currently has 49 direct member companies.
About BIO
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is based in Washington DC. Established in 1993, it has more than 1,000 members. BIO focuses on advocacy on behalf of the biotech industry, informing national and international media about the biotech industry, its progress and issues and provision of business development services, including investor and partnering meetings.
BIO also organises the world’s largest biotechnology event - BIO - to be held in Philadelphia from 19-22 June 2005.
Link for more information on BIO
About E.B.D.
E.B.D. Group was founded in 1993 as an international life science consultancy with offices in California, Munich and the UK providing Business Development and Drug Development services in the healthcare sector to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.
Further information about BIO-Europe 2004
Keywords : BIO-Europe 2004 partnering event, Cologne, Germany Proceedings Emerging Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), Brussels BIO, Washington DC E.B.D. Group Co-operation agreement Biotech Pharma Life Science
