European Union representatives will attend 7th European Biotechnology Crossroads
Nantes, France, September 5, 2003 -- A number of senior European Union representatives will attend the seventh annual European Biotech Crossroads - "Biotech Nantes 2003" which takes place at the Cité des Congrès conference centre, Nantes, France, on September 25-26, the organisers announced today. The Crossroads is a major international biotechnology event and an exclusive meeting point for the sector's stakeholders: researchers, academics, students, businesses, representatives from local and national government, and investors. The presence of government ministers and other European VIPs at the event will highlight the important international status of the Crossroads, which according to the organisers is now firmly established among the top three European biotech events. Three French government ministers will attend this year's event; Claudie Haignéré, French minister for research and new technologies, Nicole Fontaine, French minister for industry, and François Fillon, French minister for social affairs, labour and solidarity, and President of Atlanpole. Other key international figures will also attend the Crossroads, including Dr Antonio Marzano, Italian minister for commerce and industry and current President of the Council of the European Union, and Edelgard Buhlmann, German minister for education and research. "We are delighted to have such a good level of European institution representation at Biotech Nantes 2003," said Jean-François Balducchi, managing director at Atlanpole (Nantes-St Nazaire's technopole and bio-incubator) and Chairman of the 7th European Biotech Crossroads' Organising Committee. "The attendance of top level E.U. representatives highlights the importance of the development of young biotechnology companies on both a regional and an international level.", ,The European Biotechnology Crossroads is unique in offering three events in one:,... 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. On the fringe of the Crossroads, three other satellite meetings will be held underlining the main themes of the Crossroads: ,... The Start-Up Networking Event organised by Club Alfa (association of prize-winners sponsored by the Aventis Foundation),... The Inserm Showcase Day organised and moderated by Inserm Transfert,... The Cell and Gene Therapy Club meeting, an Inserm initiative About the European Biotech Crossroads, Biotech Nantes 2003:,http://www.biotech-nantes.com,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, Nantes and Saint Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ANVAR (the French Innovation Agency), Digitip (the French government's Directorate General for Industry and ICT), the French Ministry of Finance and Industry and INSERM Transfert. 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), Génopole Ouest, France Technopoles Entreprises Innovation, EBN (European BIC Network), IASP (the International Association of Science Parks), CNRS (the French National Research Council for Scientific Research), Ifremer (the French Research Institute for Marine Studies), INRA (the French National Agronomic Research Council), Inserm, the France Atlantique university network, the University of Nantes, BioChim action, the Atlantic Innovation Relay Centre, Ouest Atlantique, and Alcimed. 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 32 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.,
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