01 October 2010

BioSpain Investment Forum most international yet

Just back from Pamplona where BioSpain and the BioSpain Investment Forum took place this week.  A pleasant surprise, this is always an enjoyable event but this year it seems to have morphed into one of the more useful national biotech conferences in Europe.  Both European and international companies where far better represented than in the past, and several of the presenting companies where really quite interesting.  Congratulations to the organizers!  The key quesion in the air was about what it will take to drive the further development of the Spanish biotech industry, and the good news is that there is finally a concensus forming on the need to involve experienced management in biotech start-ups.  But are the local investors and scientific founders now ready to do what it takes to recruit world-class management?  There is no lack of entrepreneurs interested to live in Spain, so the obstacle to date has been the extreme divergence in expectations.  What needs to be done, and what are the best models for bringing research to the market.  A number of key Spanish VCs, CEOs and TTOs will be in Strasbourg for the Tech Transfer Summit Europe on 13-14 December to discuss with international experts.