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Home > GERMANY > Geschäftsveranstaltungen
DÜSSELDORF: THE BIOTECH EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED
Rome (Ign) -Businesses, pharmaceutical companies, researchers and communities of investors, brought together in a single place to discuss the future of life sciences. From 6 to 8 November 2006, the Düsseldorf Congress Centre, in Germany, will host the 12th edition of Bio-Europe (www.ebdgroup.com/bioeurope), in other words the most important European show in the sector of biotechnologies, which traditionally brings together biotech decision makers on an international level, the pharmaceutical sector and the world of finance. Last year, the event saw the participation of 1450 delegates and 850 businesses from 34 countries. And among these there will be Italy: the Italian Institute of Foreign Trade (ICE), in collaboration with the trade association Assobiotec (www.assobiotec.it), will organise a service centre for companies and the insertion of exhibitors in the partnering phase, in which they will be able to meet managers of businesses operating in the same sector or those from the pharmaceutical sector. This is an attractive opportunity to further drive growth in an increasingly strong sector.
The Italian biotechnological sector is in fact in full development. According to Assobiotec, in 2004 it achieved an overall turnover of 2.886bn, up 18% on the previous year, with an operating profit of 173m. The sector is already of significant size, seeing that it is composed of 163 companies (45% of which are less than five years old), and provides almost 8400 jobs. Growth is due both to the relative "youth" of the business and to the entrance in the sector of businesses already operating in related sectors, as well as to a good number of start-ups thanks to the investment of capital in what is considered the sector of the future. Italy is currently in fourth place in Europe in terms of number of businesses (after Germany, the United Kingdom and France), with an employment base equivalent to that of France and Switzerland put together. Another characteristic is its strong geographical concentration: the "biotech clusters" are situated in Lombardy (where a third of Italian businesses in the sector are based), Piedmont (with 17.2% of businesses) and Tuscany (with 11.7%).
As far as regards specialisation, 69% of Italian businesses active in the biotech sector work in the branch of health, while those in organic farming represent 15% and those in the industrial and environmental sector 10%. The role played by bioinformatics currently remains marginal. 80% are small and medium-sized enterprises, often offering a high degree of technological specialisation, while the 11 leading companies account for 73% of the overall turnover. And the results speak for themselves: at present Italian companies have brought 59 projects to the clinical experimentation phase, above all in the sector of oncology, inflammation and diseases of the respiratory apparatus. There are three in phase 3 development (after which the product is registered and commercialised) and 13 in phase 2, while 29 are in the pre-clinical phase. The only difficulty is represented by the absence of private equity and venture capital specialised in the sector: last year venture capital and private equity funds invested 6m in Italian biotech businesses; really not very much compared to 1.4bn overall in Europe. But a turnaround in the trend has already begun, also thanks to the attention given to the sector by Italian institutions and universities. For example, awaiting its opening in Turin is the School for Biotechnologies, with premises covering 15,000 square metres, 800 students, 200 staff including teachers and support personnel, and 15 groups of researchers to work on molecular genetics, molecular biology, cellular and chemical biology, immunology and experimental nephrology.
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