Brussels, Belgium
25 September 2009
EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, and Venture Valuation, with the collaboration of national stakeholders, yesterday published a ground-breaking report “Biotech in the new EU Member States: an emerging sector” (1), evaluating the biotech industry across the 12 newest EU Member State, as well as Turkey and Croatia.
The report identifies 260 biotechnology companies across 14 countries; and addresses the opportunities and challenges particular to each national situation. Four countries in particular, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Estonia, report the highest numbers of biotechnology companies and were the most developed biotechnology sectors among the 14 countries analysed. One of the main challenges for the sector highlighted in the report is how to turn innovation into products when there is little guidance and support.
“Despite the political will to develop R&D as a national priority and government interest in biotechnology, concrete policies are not always put into practice.” said Patrik Frei, CEO of Venture Valuation and co-author of the report. He continued, “Setting up a coherent and consistent framework with support dedicated to the biotechnology and healthcare sectors is the key to long-term success for the industry.”(2)
“Capacity building on intellectual property rights and patenting, as well as effective technology transfer offices are needed to stimulate commercialisation, “ said Willy De Greef, Secretary General of EuropaBio and co-author of the report. “While achievements of the sector are not yet visible in terms of products on the market, it is important to acknowledge that a solid foundation is emerging in these countries to bring about future successful developments of the biotechnology sector.”
In addition to the report, recommendations to the EU and national governments were formulated during workshops in Budapest, Prague and Vilnius, to improve the policy environment for biotechnology companies.
(1) The report “Biotech in the new EU Member States: an emerging sector” is available at:
http://www.14allbio.eu/documents/Biotechreport.pdf
(2)Draft Policy recommendations based on the report are available at:
http://www.14allbio.eu/documents/IndecsHPolicyrecommendations.pdf
EuropaBio's mission is to promote an innovative and dynamic biotechnology-based industry in Europe. EuropaBio, (the European Association for Bioindustries), has 72 corporate and 6 associate members operating worldwide, 4 Bioregions and 25 national biotechnology associations representing some 1800 small and medium sized enterprises. http://www.europabio.org
Venture Valuation specializes in independent assessment and valuation of companies in high-growth markets, such as biotechnology and medical technology. Furthermore, the company also provides information services such as the global Biotechnology Database (www.biotechgate.com) and over 25 country databases for clients around the world. http://www.venturevaluation.com
About the Indecs-H/14allbio project
The InDeCS-H/14allbio project aimed at providing a picture of biotech development in the 12 newest EU Member States and candidate countries, as well as improving the visibility of biotech companies for networking and investment opportunities. The final report of the project highlights the status of growth potential for healthcare biotech SMEs in this region. www.14allbio.eu
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