"25 Years at the Heart of the Sector": AseBio highlights key milestones in an infographic to mark Its 25th anniversary
“AseBio has been and will continue to be a catalyst for innovation, so let’s keep working together to ensure that, over the next 25 years, biotechnology remains a cornerstone of our society and a model of sustainable innovation and progress,” stated its president, Rocío Arroyo.
On November 26, the Gran Teatro CaixaBank Príncipe Pío (Madrid) will host AseBio’s 25th-anniversary celebration. This special event will take us back to AseBio’s origins and, with the insight of key figures from the association, we’ll examine the last quarter-century of biotechnology in Spain. The journey will highlight AseBio’s most significant milestones, underscoring the “invisible revolution” we’ve led, now illustrated in an infographic.
The journey begins in 1999, the year AseBio was founded with 54 companies, supported by the Ministry of Industry. Twenty-five years later, we are more than 300 companies, associations, foundations, universities, and research centers involved in biotechnology in Spain.
Over the years, we have become a key influence in the political and economic arenas, notably through our participation in the National Biotechnology Program and the European Commission’s Biotechnology Working Group. More recently, we spearheaded an initiative to establish a High Commissioner to drive strategic technologies in Spain, some of whose proposals have been included in the nation’s first Deep Tech Strategy, announced by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities in March 2024.
AseBio played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic by advancing biotechnology’s place in the health emergency response. Two major achievements in 2021 were the formation of a Task Force for diagnostic test producers and developers and our participation in the Parliamentary Commission for Spain’s Social and Economic Recovery post-COVID. Consequently, in 2021, we positioned biotechnology as a cornerstone for national recovery, contributing to the PERTE for Advanced Health, the Green Recovery Strategy, and the Spain 2050 Strategy.
In this quarter-century, we have driven the internationalization of Spain’s biotech sector, leading the first internationalization plan for the industry. Through this, we channeled resources to boost the visibility of Spanish biotech companies at key global events. Since 2002, we have organized BIOSPAIN biennially, now recognized as the largest biotech event hosted by a national association and the third largest in Europe by participant count.
Over these 25 years, we have been instrumental in advancing the regulatory framework for the biotech sector, driving impactful regulatory changes. These include the Ministry of Industry’s launch of the Young Innovative Company Support Program in 2007, advocated by AseBio since 2002; AseBio’s contributions to national R&D plans; the 2016 Order on payment deferrals enabling biotech SMEs to postpone and divide loan repayments on key sector grants; and the creation of capital instruments like INNVIERTE-CDTI to support venture capital in technology-based or innovative companies.
AseBio has also contributed to the reform of the Science Law and the Start-up Law, which extended the definition of a biotech start-up from five to seven years, facilitating access to various support measures.
“Our 25th-anniversary celebration is a milestone that not only represents the growth of our association but also the consolidation of the Spanish biotech sector as a driving force of innovation, development, and societal well-being. Over this quarter-century, as depicted in our new infographic, AseBio has been both a witness to and a catalyst for the biotech sector’s profound transformation in Spain, essential to our health, economy, and environmental sustainability,” states AseBio’s president, Rocío Arroyo.
“Since our founding, we have worked tirelessly to be a hub of collaboration between companies, research centers, institutions, and universities. Through strategic initiatives and continuous dialogue with public administrations, we have succeeded in advancing sector regulations and financing, creating an enabling environment for start-ups and SMEs to grow and compete globally. AseBio has been, and will continue to be, a catalyst for innovation. Let us continue working together to ensure that, over the next 25 years, biotechnology remains a fundamental pillar of our society and a model of sustainable innovation and progress,” she concludes.