BIOSPAIN represents a boost for investment in a decisive year for biotechnology
The pandemic has provided an opportunity for Spanish biotechnology and private investment has increased by 50% in 2020. BIOSPAIN 2021, the reference Spanish trade fair for investment agents and biotech companies, will take place from 27 September to 1 October
Spain is the ninth power in the production of scientific knowledge in biotechnology. Yet it faces the challenge of transforming this science into an innovative and sustainable industrial fabric. The aim of addressing the strengths of the biotech sector in our country and discovering the impact of the Recovery Plan as well as possible formulas for public-private collaboration has led to the holding of BioBreakfast: BIOSPAIN, a boost to investment in biotech. The event boasted the presence of Ion Arocena, General Director of the Spanish Association of Biotechnology Companies (AseBio), María Eugenia Lecumberri, Investment Director of Sodena, the Navarra Development Society, and Raúl Martín-Ruiz, a partner at Ysios Capital.
Spain continues to establish itself as a scientific power, especially in the field of biotechnology and life sciences and even more so at this time of pandemic. The growth of the sector has been accompanied by a decade of consolidation of venture capital that has invested more than 740 million euros in Spanish biotechnology companies. Mr Arocena explained this: “For a decade, international investments have been growing, with the volume of operations with international participation reaching almost 100 million euros in 2020. Furthermore, private investment has jumped almost 50% in the pandemic”.
Sodena is a clear example of these figures. "The Society has supported more than 20 companies in which it has been able to: increase their sales threefold, generate over eight million euros of EBITDA and create almost a thousand jobs," Ms Lecumberri said.
Public and private investment
However, in Mr Arocena’s view, our science and innovation system does not reflect our country’s economic potential. While private investment in the biotech sector has been growing over recent years, public investment has not attained the values of 2015 nor those of 2010, a year when the amount of aid was double that of 2020 "even though that year also saw a considerable increase both in the number of projects funded (14 more) and in the total sum, which was 26% up on the previous year". He emphasised that we must keep converting this science into solutions that are made in Spain, ones that will reach society and upon which a knowledge industry will continue to grow and become established. Private investment is vital for this to occur, as Mr Martín-Ruiz highlighted: “As investment agents specialising in this sector, we play an essential role when channelling private investment funds towards biotech companies, since they are their main means of funding”.
Sodena backs public-private collaboration, and as Ms Lecumberri explained, “the financial support we offer is in joint venture with the most active private representatives in the environment; therefore, it is under the same conditions as the other investment agents. This translates into additional support for projects that are consolidating their results, enabling them to strengthen, grow and advance in their development, and for new projects with very interesting prospects in the medium term. At Sodena we are committed to continuing our support for the sector and making it grow and become established. We would like to see a sector that has significant weight in the GDP of our community and one that comprises more and larger companies”.
Covid-19, a boost for healthcare biotech
Although it is true that the present covid-19 crisis has pushed the biotechnology sector to the forefront and has pointed to the need to innovate and invest in health, Ysios Capital's investment criteria have remained unchanged. "We are still committed to highly innovative companies that develop medicines that are aimed at treating an unmet medical need, so that if the results are consistent, they will result in a significant benefit in the treatment of patients in particular and of society in general," Mr Martín-Ruiz said at the BioBreakfast.
Ms Lekumberri reiterated that the health sector continues to be a strategic commitment and highlighted the case of Navarra, with its Smart Specialisation Strategy NAVARRA-S3, with which it is promoting research projects and the technological infrastructures necessary for the development of preventive medicine, genomics, advanced diagnosis and personalised treatment. “Together with the impact of personalised medicine on clinical care, research and innovation policies, and the creation of industrial fabric, other transversal lines are being worked on. These include the incorporation by the Public University of Navarra of degrees in Personalised and Data Science Medicine, infrastructures and computer systems, ethical-legal regulation or aspects of communication and governance”, she added.
BIOSPAIN 2021, a boost for Spain’s healthcare, sustainability and economy
The participants in this BioBreakfast agreed on the importance of a trade show like BIOSPAIN 2021 as the Spanish biotechnology sector’s benchmark event, one that represents a meeting point for many professionals from the national and international arena. This year, it will be held from September 27 to October 1, 2021 at the Baluarte Conference Centre and Auditorium of Navarra in Pamplona-Iruña in collaboration with the Regional Government of Navarra and Sodena. Boasting a hybrid format, it will draw over 1,500 national and international professionals from the sector. “At an event like this, new projects will be presented, solutions and innovations will be shared and business opportunities will be harnessed in order to grow the sector and strengthen all ties. As Raúl has said, the key is knowing how to identify opportunities and risks. BIOSPAIN will be the showcase for all this, for all those branches and possibilities that will enable us to place ourselves at the heart of the country's healthcare, sustainable and economic recovery”, Mr Arocena said.
Meanwhile, Mr Martín-Ruiz emphasised that “the country boasts scientific centres of excellence, business schools of recognised prestige and a growing interest in entrepreneurship and the fostering of technology transfer. This is the essential breeding ground for developing innovative projects with great potential. The current record of funding rounds of large sums, the presence of international investors, the success stories of companies that have completed the investment, management and divestment cycle very satisfactorily, are events that are marking a turning point”.
Ms Lecumberri believes BIOSPAIN 2021 will help “significantly to position this sector as a benchmark at European level, not only in research but also in fostering technology transfer, entrepreneurship and the development of new projects, giving visibility to the companies that comprise an internationalised industry that will continue to attract talent and resources and that is seen as so vital at a time like the present”.