Madrid, March 24th  2015.- Under the title The Need For Innovation, Madrid has hosted the VIII Annual Conference of the Biomedical Research Technological Platforms: Innovative Medicines, Nanomedicine, Healthcare Technology and Biotech Markets on March 24th and 25th. These conferences, which bring together almost 300 specialized biomedicine scientists and researchers each year has already become a reference to get to know the latest national and international initiatives in public-private collaborations, fostered by several Platforms of Biomedical research.

It has been proven time again in these Conferences that the high scientific level of biomedical research in Spain has allowed for participation at important public-private international consortia. However, new challenges lie ahead, and some of them are precisely the themes which have been tackled this year: the re-use of data for biomedical research, the role of patients in clinical research, but also the advances made in these kinds of collaborations through new initiatives such as the Regions in Health, under the RIS3, which will effectively be set up in different Spanish regions in the forthcoming months.

The opening ceremony counted on the participation of Francisco Marín, Director General of the Center for Industrial and Technological Development; Margarita Alfonsel, General Secretary of FENIN; Regina Revilla, President of ASEBIO; and Humberto Arnés, Director General of Farmaindustria, who highlighted that ·the pharmaceutical industry’s commitment to research, as a source of welfare for citizens and progress for the country, is undeniable”.

Arnés reminded the audience that the pharmaceutical industry was leader in 2013 with  20% of the total R&D investments of all Spanish industrial sectors. Out of the 928 € millions invested, 457 were allocated to clinical research and 121M€ to basic research.”The model of open innovation is a reality within the pharmaceutical industry, given that ours is the sector that collaborates the most with public research centers”.

In this regard, he stressed that 41% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D investments (337 M€) in 2013 was allocated to contracts with the public research system, generating a rich flow of knowledge that benefits both parties, besides constituting an important source of income for these centers.

“There is no other scientific discipline in Spain with such a stimulating potential to other sectors such as that found in the pharmaceutical industry. Hence, its contribution is essential when improving global competitiveness”, concluded Farmaindustria’s General Director.

In the opinion of Jorge Barrero, Deputy President of ASEBIO and member of the management team of the Spanish Biotech Platform, “during recent years, Spain has proven that it holds ample public and private assets to become a part of the select group of economies capable of leading the development of medicines in the future. However, the matter goes beyond the access of innovations to patients, which can be dispensed in rich economies (and, as a matter of fact, are) if there is no gain or resources to develop such medicines. It is impossible to develop an innovative industry when innovation is not rewarded and respected in all policies (industrial, tax related and, of course, pharmaceutical) beyond those directly promoting R&D, which are necessary, but not enough”.

On the other hand, Isabel García, General Secretary of ASEBIO and member of the management team of the Spanish Biotech Platform assured that “the biotech sector has a lot to contribute in the fields of personalized medicines and new bio-healthcare technologies, as well as in innovative medicines. The bio-healthcare environment can improve the present and the future with new products and services in the market; through the collaboration of all stakeholders, a balance can be achieved which ultimately improves the healthcare system in our country”.

About The Spanish Technological Platform for Innovative Medicines

The Spanish Technological Platform for Innovative Medicines was set up by Farmaindustria in 2005. It aims to encourage biomedical research of new medicines through the co-operation of all agents: Industry; Regulators from the various public administrations; Health managers; Basic and clinical researchers; Scientific societies; Patients and their associations; and suppliers of goods and services related to research.

About the Spanish Biotech Platform

The Spanish Biotech Platform is an initiative launched by ASEBIO in 2010 supported by the former  MICINN- the Ministry of Science and Innovation -, currently Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), in collaboration with SEBIOT- the Spanish Society of Biotechnology- and the Fundación Genoma España, among other entities.

The goal of the Spanish Biotech Platform is to develop steady, efficient and multilateral channels of communication between the different agents in the science-technology-company system, in order to foster biotechnological innovation, technology transfer and its expansion to our society by capitalizing on its socioeconomic, environmental and health benefits; bearing this in mind, it has around 240 members including both private and public entities, as well as individual participants with diverse degrees of engagement in the biotech market.