“Barcelona! Such a beautiful horizon, like a jewel in the sun,’ sang Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé in an amazing partnership for the opening song for the 1992 Summer Olympics. And soon BIO-Europe Spring will be coming to Spain’s thriving life sciences beside-the-sea hub, from March 18 - 20, with virtual partnering from March 26 - 27. Register here to get set up for your own amazing partnering meetings on partneringONE.
Why has Barcelona become such a bright beacon for biotech? It was recently voted the second-best place in Europe to invest in biotech, according to the 2023 CPHI annual report. The wider region stakes a claim to fame as Europe’s densest pharma environment, with over 1,350 life sciences companies, including globally-recognised names such as AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Novartis. Barcelona’s life sciences sector employs over 59,000 people, with a strong pipeline of fresh talent: there are over 52,000 students enrolled in life sciences courses in the Catalonia BioRegion.
Becoming an entrepreneurial hub with over 2,000 start-ups, of which 1 in 5 are in life sciences, didn’t happen by accident, nor did securing EUR 445m across the health tech sector in 2022. Several organisations have helped foster innovation in this dynamic city, including the not-for-profit Barcelona Health Hub, which links startups, health organizations, companies, and investors. Asabys Capital, a prominent biotech VC fund, is leading work to enhance Barcelona’s life sciences competitiveness, a sector which is supported by most major pharma, biotech, and health companies & research institutions in the region.
As highlighted at last November’s BIO-Europe opening plenary in Munich, investors are focussed on meaningful data readouts from clinical trials. So it follows as a biotech company you would want to do your trials in a place that really knows how to deliver in the clinic. In terms of number of active oncology clinical trials, Barcelona ranks 6th in the world. And to do great science, collaborating with research institutes, of which Barcelona has an impressive 91, is a well-trodden path to success. For a wealth of fascinating sector information check out BioCat’s 2022 report on the region.
If you’d love Barcelona to become your new biotech home, connect with Barcelona and Partners, who, in the immortal words of Mercury and Caballé, can help you achieve the blissful feeling that ‘now my dream is slowly coming true.’ Viva Barcelona!
Register here to take advantage of early-bird savings. Partnering opens on February 5.
Did you know that in 2023, partneringONE powered 75,000 partnering meetings across 19 events in 10 countries? Check out this article to make the most of partneringONE when you’re at BIO-Europe Spring in Barcelona.