The first international conference for bio-technopoles, life science parks and bio-incubators provides appetizer for the 7th European Biotech Crossroads in Nantes
26 September 2003
Nantes, France, May 21, 2003 -- The seventh annual European Biotech Crossroads will host the first international meeting of bio-technopoles, life science parks and bio-incubators on the eve of the official opening, September 25, 2003, organiser Atlanpole announced today.
Two international organisations are lending their support to the event, the first of its kind. They are the Business Innovation Centres (BICs) that make up the European BIC Network (EBN) and the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) with its constituent life science parks, bio-technopoles and company incubators. Some national network organisations from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany will also be contributing to the event.
The goal of the meeting is to compare experiences at the international level and share good practice in terms of company incubation and business support for early-stage start-ups in the biotech, healthcare and life science sectors. The international meeting constitutes a unique opportunity to hear testimonies from company incubators, technopoles and Business Innovation Centres that specialise in this field. Entrepreneurs, company representatives and support professionals (such as lawyers, accountants and patent agents) will share the platform in order to provide a comprehensive panorama of the key players involved in the incubation process.
Many of the sector's highest profile organisations will attend: Technologiepark Heidelberg, Germany, the CQIB (Centre Québécois d'Innovation en Biotechnologie) Canada, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Portugal, Manchester Science Park, United Kingdom, the APPHN (Henan Provincial Productivity Promotion Center), Henan, People's Republic of China, and the Parc Cientific de Barcelona, Spain.
A summary of the day's proceedings will be presented on Friday September 26 during the 7th European Biotechnology Crossroads' "Supporting Biotech" session - guaranteeing maximum exposure to delegates.
On the fringe of the Crossroads, three other satellite meetings will be held underlining the organisers' will to exploit the delegates' complementarities to the full and to generate as many opportunities for dialogue as possible.
- 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
"As an emerging economic sector with significant high-level scientific content, biotech needs to establish immediate links with its industrial, financial, commercial and institutional environments in order to ensure continued development," 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 European Biotech Crossroads is a great opportunity for encouraging this process. For the event's 7th edition, we've decided to meet this need as fully as possible by organising a range of international networking opportunities in addition to the official conferences and exhibition. We're particularly proud to be hosting the first international meeting of bio-technopoles, life science parks and bio-incubators here in Nantes."
,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.
For further information:,Gilles Petitot,Andrew Lloyd & Associates,+33 1 56 54 07 00,E-mail: gilles@ala.com,
Two international organisations are lending their support to the event, the first of its kind. They are the Business Innovation Centres (BICs) that make up the European BIC Network (EBN) and the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) with its constituent life science parks, bio-technopoles and company incubators. Some national network organisations from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany will also be contributing to the event.
The goal of the meeting is to compare experiences at the international level and share good practice in terms of company incubation and business support for early-stage start-ups in the biotech, healthcare and life science sectors. The international meeting constitutes a unique opportunity to hear testimonies from company incubators, technopoles and Business Innovation Centres that specialise in this field. Entrepreneurs, company representatives and support professionals (such as lawyers, accountants and patent agents) will share the platform in order to provide a comprehensive panorama of the key players involved in the incubation process.
Many of the sector's highest profile organisations will attend: Technologiepark Heidelberg, Germany, the CQIB (Centre Québécois d'Innovation en Biotechnologie) Canada, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Portugal, Manchester Science Park, United Kingdom, the APPHN (Henan Provincial Productivity Promotion Center), Henan, People's Republic of China, and the Parc Cientific de Barcelona, Spain.
A summary of the day's proceedings will be presented on Friday September 26 during the 7th European Biotechnology Crossroads' "Supporting Biotech" session - guaranteeing maximum exposure to delegates.
On the fringe of the Crossroads, three other satellite meetings will be held underlining the organisers' will to exploit the delegates' complementarities to the full and to generate as many opportunities for dialogue as possible.
- 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
"As an emerging economic sector with significant high-level scientific content, biotech needs to establish immediate links with its industrial, financial, commercial and institutional environments in order to ensure continued development," 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 European Biotech Crossroads is a great opportunity for encouraging this process. For the event's 7th edition, we've decided to meet this need as fully as possible by organising a range of international networking opportunities in addition to the official conferences and exhibition. We're particularly proud to be hosting the first international meeting of bio-technopoles, life science parks and bio-incubators here in Nantes."
,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.
For further information:,Gilles Petitot,Andrew Lloyd & Associates,+33 1 56 54 07 00,E-mail: gilles@ala.com,