7th European Biotech Crossroads, 'Biotech Nantes 2003' will take place September 25-26 in Nantes, France

2003's "must-visit" European biotech event

The seventh annual European Biotech Crossroads - "Biotech Nantes 2003" - will be held at the Cité des Congrès conference centre, Nantes, France, on September 25-26. The Crossroads is a major international biotechnology event and an exclusive meeting point for the sector's various stakeholders: researchers, academics, businesses, representatives from local and national government, students, investors and specialised service providers such as lawyers and patent attorneys.
Atlanpole (the Nantes-St Nazaire bio-incubator and technopole) is organising the event on behalf of the French Ministry of Research, with support from all the local and regional authorities in the "France Atlantique" area (formed by the Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Poitou Charentes administrative regions). With over 180 businesses developing or using biotechnology (accounting for more than 4,800 jobs) and 2,500 researchers in public and private sector laboratories, the Nantes-St Nazaire region (which promotes itself internationally as "France Atlantique Biotech") constitutes France's second largest biotechnology cluster.
France Atlantique Biotech is a hotbed of rapidly growing businesses and is characterised by its strong entrepreneurial spirit, with more than 50 new start-ups over the last three years. The expertise and know-how of France Atlantique's biotech companies are focused on four areas of excellence, including human and animal health, agrifood, plant-based resources and marine biology.
The European Biotech Crossroads stands out by combining three events on a single site:,* High level seminars focusing on the latest technological, scientific and economic advances, as well as workshops for students.,* A tradeshow enabling biotech companies, organisations and other players from the sector to highlight their skills.,* A business partnering convention bringing together investors, European start-ups and major companies
,The seventh European Biotech Crossroads offers a programme of world-class seminars organised around three themes:
* Scientific seminars:,- Covering all the key themes in biotechnology (drug discovery, biodiversity and biotherapies) - A spotlight on cutting edge technology (proteomics, nanotechnology, diagnostics and food analysis),- The broader implications of biotechnology (notably its impact on sustainable industrial development and bioethics)
* Business seminars:,- Tackling the strategic aspects of the development of biotechnology (investment, growth, partnerships and alliances),- Looking at new markets and development tracks (clinical trials, the exploitation of patents and technology),- France Biotech's annual symposium, bringing together France's key stakeholders in biotech
* Career workshops:,- These will include presentations of the new career pathways that biotech offers and a look at international mobility and job-seeking strategies, as well as testimonies and case studies.
,Following the success of the 2002 edition, 2003's European Biotech Crossroads in Nantes is an event that biotech stakeholders in Europe and world-wide cannot afford to miss - as already shown by the confirmed participation of a number of foreign business and institutional delegations.
About the European Biotech Crossroads, Biotech Nantes 2003:,The European Biotech Crossroads is one of the key annual events for biotechnology in Europe. Initiated in 1997 by the French Ministry of Research and organised in a different French city each year, the seventh European Biotech Crossroads will take place at the Cité des Congrès conference centre in Nantes, on September 25th and 26th, 2003. It will bring together all the key players in French and European biotech as well as a significant number of biotech companies from the rest of the world.
,The European Biotech Crossroads comprises:,* A two-day programme of world-class scientific seminars,* Europe's second biggest annual trade show for biotech professionals,* A business convention bringing together European investors, businesses, start-ups and specialised service providers such as lawyers and patent attorneys.
The 2002 Biotech Crossroads held in Lille brought together 3,208 delegates (35% of whom were from outside France, with 27 countries represented), 308 exhibitors at the trade show event and 180 participants in a business partnering convention which generated more than 1000 business meetings.
The European Biotech Crossroads is organised by Atlanpole on behalf of the French Ministry of Research and New Technologies with support from the Pays de la Loire Regional Council, the Loire Atlantique General Council, Greater Nantes, the Brittany Regional Council, the Poitou Charentes Regional Council, the European Union, the Angers Development Agency, INSERM, INSERM Transfert, ANVAR (the French Innovation Agency), Digitip (the French government's Directorate General for Industry and ICT), and the French Ministry of Finance and Industry.
The European Biotech Crossroads is organised in partnership with a number of official bodies: France Biotech (France's national biotech industry association), EuropaBio, ADEBIO (the French Association for the Development of Biotechnology and the Bioindustry), France Technopoles Entreprises Innovation, EBN (European BIC Network), IASP (the International Association of Science Parks), the Atlantique Innovation Relay Centre, Ifremer (the French Research Institute for Marine Studies), CNRS (the French National Research Council for Scientific Research), INRA (the French National Agronomic Research Council), Génopole Ouest and the France Atlantique university network.
About Atlanpole:,Atlanpole is a technopole, incubator and business innovation centre. It has been contributing to the company start-up process since 1987 and fuels the "Nantes Atlantique" business region's strong entrepreneurial spirit.
Given official recognition by the French Ministry of Research in 1999, the Atlanpole Bio-incubator has provided business support to more than 80 innovative start-up projects, including 31 in the life sciences.,Atlanpole draws on the experience of a multidisciplinary team serving entrepreneurs in three areas:,* Building and running a skills network,* Project engineering and innovation management,* Marketing the region and welcoming companies that choose it as a business location.
,For further information:,Andrew Lloyd/Keren Perrott,Andrew Lloyd & Associates,[phone],e-mail: [e-mail] / e-mail: [e-mail]

Countries

France