Spain Launches the Spanish Biotech Platform

MADRID, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Madrid, the capital of Spain, has been chosen for the presentation of the Spanish Biotech Platform, an initiative launched by the Spanish Bioindustry Association (ASEBIO), in partnership with the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBIOT) and the Fundacion Genoma Espana (Spanish Genome Foundation), which has received funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation's National R+D+I Plan 2008-2011. The objective is to develop stable, efficient and multilateral communication channels between the various actors of the science, technology and enterprise system, in order to encourage biotechnology innovation and technology transfer and their translation into society.

Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, the chairman of ASEBIO and a member of the Spanish Biotech Platform management team, stated his hope "that this initiative will help the sector to grow in our country and that the technology will be implemented in many more companies than those that currently use it".

This initiative has been launched with the following objectives: to create a stable structure with a representative management board; to provide the platform with appropriate technology infrastructure and human resources; to publicize the existence of the project; to create a representative critical mass, and to promote collaborative projects. Involvement in this initiative is free and open to both public and private entities, as well as to any people involved in the biotech market on an individual basis. The areas of activity of the platform are coordinated by the Technical Secretariat, which is part of ASEBIO, and cover three broad groups: Red or Health Biotechnology, White or Industrial Biotechnology and Green or Agri-Food Biotechnology, which will be represented by working groups.

Among the actions to be implemented, the following are noteworthy: the launch of a dedicated website (http://www.mercadosbiotecnologicos.com); the development and implementation of a strategic agenda by the Management Board; the establishment of the three working groups (health, industrial and agri-food); the creation of an internet TV service; the formation of the first public-private partnership projects; the opening of blogs and forums on the new website and the design of a daily newsletter with news headlines from the sector. The next meetings of the Platform will be a Biofuels Conference on May 19; a seminar day for research groups of the National Centre for Biotechnology and biotechnology companies on May 23 and collaboration in the APIB-2011 Conference to be held between June 14 and 17.

    Lucia Cecilia
    Communication Manager
    Spanish Biotech Platform
    Tfno: +34-91-210-93-74
    [email protected]

SOURCE ASEBIO