Biotechnology and biomanufacturing can be part of the solution to address many societal and environmental challenges, such as climate mitigation and adaptation, access to and sustainable use of natural resources, food supply and security, and human health. They are key for the competitiveness and the modernisation of our economy due to their high growth potential and increased labour productivity. However, the sector is facing several challenges, including research and technology transfer to the market, regulatory complexity, access to finance, skills, public acceptance, or economic security. Therefore, the European Commission proposed a series of targeted actions to boost biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the EU. (Communication on Building the future with nature: Boosting biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the EU)
The European Cluster Collaboration Platform, on behalf of the European Commission, organized the EU Clusters Talk “Building the future with nature: Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU” on 29 May, 8:30 – 9:45 CET, to present the EU Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, hear about the challenges and action areas with cluster practitioners, and discuss how these promising technological areas can develop their full potential.
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Visit the ECCP website, and register for the upcoming Clusters Talks.
https://clustercollaboration.eu/events/organised-by-eccp/clusters-talks
ECCP website: https://clustercollaboration.eu/
[Music] so welcome everyone to this EU cluster talk on biotech biomanufacturing building the future with nature for climate mitigation and adaptation for clean water Greener agriculture new meds safer chemicals we’re talking about the EU biotech biomanufacturing initiative launched in March including on regulation financing accelerating the use of AI and other things um and my name is Chris Burns glad to be with you uh during this cluster talk by the way I have a bit of uh skin in the game because my son is studying biochemistry so very interested uh as well in in this discussion these cluster talks are organized by the European cluster collaboration platform eccp with, 1500 organizations and over 150 of them are in biotech and this is on behalf of DG grow at the European commission let’s take a look at the agenda we want to start with the the cluster news uh presentation from uh cluster news sorry from uh with Nina Hopman the presentation from the European commission uh and we’ll have slido questions tapping your brain after we hear the presentation from the commission uh panel discussion and you also with your questions you put your question questions uh into the Q&A button down at the bottom of your screen and uh the chat is also a great thing to uh to work with because you see a lot of Great Exchange of information um yeah let’s see uh there’s also the hashtag clusters talks if you have anything to cast wider on what you hear and this is recorded for a playback slides are also available uh afterward so there you see so the those Tech tips I just talked about so you can click on raise your hand you can also we can also bring you in to pose the question yourself if you want that that’s also possible so let’s uh get started with news from the European cluster collaboration platform Nina Hopman team member of eccp Nina please thanks Chris and good morning to everyone happy to be here with you this morning uh for this EO cluster talk and what we have to share is we invite you to still register for the Clusters M region in grats which will take place on the 18th and 19th of June um we are talking about what clusters can do to spe have transformative shifts what’s climate neutral and a digital future aligned with the European sustainability goals and learn from the examples that we see in Austria but also uh with the international participants to exchange on good practices into see how clusters can collaborate with policy makers and Regional stakeholders to achieve these goals so if you have not registered yet you can still do it if you want to join us in Austria for this cluster meet meetings and also next to it there will take place a matchmaking event on the um 18th of June so that you can also meet a partners for your next projects um and collaboration opportunities speaking about matchmaking events there is a lot in store also internationally where we invite you to join us um the next uh big matchmaking event with Canada will take place on the 10th and 12th of September onsite in Montreal in the context of the Allin event which is focused on artificial intelligence and here you have great opportunity for both C2C c2b or B2B collaborations with countries um from the EU cost May traveling um so Europe from here let’s say uh and meet the colleagues in Canada and the focus areas for this event are artificial intelligence as we at the all ENT Advanced manufacturing digital Technologies and Quantum Technologies if you’re interested in Singapore and India you can already Mark calendars for to upcoming matchmakings which will take place on the 22nd and uh until 24th of October October in Singapore in the context of the Singapore International Energy week and in indiaan and bangaluru on the 18th to 21st of November on the Bangalore check Summit so keep an eye out on more information that will be published shortly ECP for the upcoming International match communties we also invite you to uh explore the trend Universe which is another service provided by the European cluster collaboration platform the Strategic foresight tool that allows you to get better understanding of future Trends and impacts um they can have on your organization in the different ecosystems um so check it out via the QR code or you can also check go go there from the website to trench Universe um it’s open now for all users from the EU without needing to do anything on your profile no no need to update so have a look and EXP exp uh this tool as an additional s you and if you have any questions for example on the trend universe but also more General on accp functionalities um you’re welcome to uh just drop into the drop in sessions um so you ask the answer these take place Wednesdays at uh 4 for half an hour so you can ask your practical questions on profile Creations profile updates how to become a proos US um and so on so these will take place until July in the link in the chat you will find uh the concrete dates as well um every Wednesday at 4 you’re invited to drop in and ask your questions and with that I hand over back to you Chris so that we can get started with the top great Nina thank you so much um we were mentioning the uh biotech and biom man biomanufacturing initiative uh let’s hear more about the challenges opportunities with that from Carlos Gomez Munos uh policy officer at the European commission uh Carlos please hello thank you Chris good morning everyone um yes I’m Carlos Gomez I work in the Secretary General of the commission and uh well I’m very happy to be here with you to present this initiative um as you may know the Secretary General is in charge of of the policy coordination uh in the commission and this is why we have been very involved in the preparation of this communication because biotechnology and biom Manufacturing is such a cross cutting use uh policy area which is a very different uh fields and so with the help with other services like our colleagues in grow that are here people from RTD will work together to prepare this communication that I’m going to present uh today so uh let’s start uh uh next slide please yeah so you know that that extraordinary advance in life sciences and supported by the digitalization and artificial artificial intelligence have made the biotechnology and B manufacturing one of the most promising technological areas of of this Century uh they can help the you to modernize the the agriculture forestry energy food and feed uh sectors but also to help the industry to be more competitive and resilient they can help to provide better health care for Citizens and also help the EU to succeed in its green and digital transition we are talking of a custo sector for the EU uh that’s in uh 2018 contributed directly with 31 billion euros to the GDP and has created that more than 200,000 direct jobs in the health care industry and agriculture so biotech and bfactor have enormous potential that the EU should maximize uh and for that we need to rely on the solid research and Innovation basis we need to scale up production and also combine interventions to promote the strengths of these sectors but at the same time to protect them against the the risks uh in the context of the increased geopolitical tensions so the commission has started working on that to promote biotech has included it as one of the technologies that has been prioritized by by the Strategic Technologies for Europe platform the the step and also to protect biotech it has been identified as a critical technology in our Economic Security strategy and and we have taken a further step with the communication uh building the future with nature boting biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the EU we are presenting today and that was adopted on the 20th of March and and in that sense the communication identifies challenges and barriers and proposes actions to help the these sectors to develop uh their full potential so next slide please so what are the challenges that the communication is uh identifying as as main barriers for the sector there are uh eight challenges there the first one is uh about the research and Technology transfer to the market and this is related to the uh scatter research among member states some FR fragmentation uh but also uh to the difficult that uh uh we are facing to translate the excellent research that is done in Europe to products and and and treatments uh Second Challenge will be related to the regulatory complexity uh related to the lengthy authorization procedures uh for setting up biom manufacturing facilities and also for bringing products to the market when compared with other jur other jurisdictions we have also challenges related to access to finance uh um because of the difficulties that biotech companies are facing for for getting the funding that they need in the different stages uh of their development and especially in the scale up stage we are talking also about challenges related to skills uh uh these sectors need uh highly qualifi but also multidisciplinary Workforce and and some of this Workforce uh cannot just be uh obtained provided by the U so we need to develop those those skills attracting and retaining Talent there are also value chains obstacles uh that are related to the availability of uh sustainable biomass that is needed for this sector uh and also related to the com potential competing uses for this uh uh sometimes a scarce biomass uh we have intellectual property issues uh this is a sector that has a huge knowledge and density and and then it’s very important to to to protect this intellectual property uh many times a very important asset for these companies we have also challenges related to the public ass STS uh where more attention is needed to give uh citizens robust Assurance about the responsible use and the safety and sustainability of these uh Technologies and and and also to make the benefits of of uh uh biotech and bi manufactured products uh uh become more apparent to them and finally we have also uh challenges related to The Economic Security uh and in that sense I mentioned before biotech is is one of the critical Technologies and uh in that sense is is subject to an ongoing assessment of the risk uh to technology security and also to technology leakage that is being conducted jointly by the commission and and the member states so next slide please so the the to tackle those challenges the communication is uh proposing a set of actions uh that are group it along uh group along eight main activity lines but it uh also presents some uh specific actions in in three uh main application fields that are the use of artificial intelligence uh health care of course very important for for biotech uh and also uh the application of Biotech to to uh to the green transition uh the first activity line would be the what we can do about leveraging research and and boosting Innovation uh in that sense the communications uh uh is uh proposing uh uh to launch a study about the position of the you compared to other global leaders in biotech and and a study uh the process of biot Technology generation and and and transfer uh it also proposes to see how we can uh uh take advantage of the research infrastructures that we have in the in the in the and especially one of them that is the uh EU iisa the industrial biotechnology Innovation and synthetic biology accelerator uh which it’s a trusted digital repository and and service network for the sector uh related to artificial intelligence and the use of data uh the communication is proposing uh one uh of of action related to the use of AI and generative AI uh that it’s uh uh supporting structur uh exchanges with the sector to accelate the uptake of this important uh uh technology uh and also uh to raise awareness of the opportunities uh for biotech companies bio manfacturing companies to use uh the the network of uh uh high performance computers that we have available in in the EU uh and also it proposes some actions uh supporting the development of of thean generative a models uh appli to to healthcare um regarding to one of the the other um po lines of action that is a stimulating market demand the communication is is proposing uh to developing uh methodologies uh to review the product environmental footprint uh so that uh we can have a a fairer comparison with fossil based products because sometimes uh um the advantages of of Biotech biobased products are not not well known and the requirements are not are based on on on on fossil based products and and these are not have been updated uh it’s also proposing to uh develop methodologies for carbon storage and construction materials uh um he proposed that the commission will look also uh at the opportunity to introduce uh biobased content requirements and specific product categories and and public procurement as a way of of stimulate the demand uh and also to explore the opportunities of of using leveling of biobased products uh so that uh these kind of products can better profile themselves and and made their benefits uh uh more prominent for for consumers uh regarding uh the the third uh Action Line which is uh about streamlined regulatory Pathways and addresses addressing this regulatory complexity that I mentioned before uh the communication is proposing two main actions that is uh simplifying the regulatory framework and improving access to markets uh by means of a a study uh on the existing legislation uh we could set the foundations for a possible EU EU biotech act and under the next mandate uh and also it’s um uh setting up what we call EU biotech have as um a portal uh to provide better support for biotech uh companies uh information about the legislation and how can they navigate this this this complex um uh regulatory framework and and also it’s proposes to to go deeper in the use of regulatory boxes uh some boxes to allow uh the texting of of of Novel Solutions next slide please so um the communication as I said also propos on Max specifics for health biotech uh focus on uh making uh better use of the assistent infrastructure for health biotechnology uh it’s also looking at uh uh how we can or or to assess the effects of the clinical trial uh regulation for that it proposes to launch a study and and and see uh if uh for example uh further action like the creation of clinical trial hubs uh could help to address crossb fragmentation and and build more capacity and it’s also um uh proposing to encourage voluntary collaboration or more better collaboration among member states about the uh among the the authorities that are uh in charge of of of uh uh public uh Healthcare uh uh to see if if we can uh uh improve the the effectiveness of uh of the policies related to analysis pricing and reimbursement of of medicines uh on green biotech ER or the use of of Biotech for the green transition uh the communication focuses on on on pesticides and bio fertilizers and and looking at how we can improve the access to uh Market access for for for these products and uh it also pays um a lot of attention to the issue of of uh funding uh that I mentioned before as one of the main challenges in that sense it proposes two main actions uh one related to the private investments in that sense uh it’s the commission will launch a study to to identify the barriers that are preventing the consolidation uh of of investment fundings but also uh the stone changes exchanges and the Post Trading INF structure that are uh very important in the different stages of uh development of of companies and it’s also proposing uh uh to gather more private Investments through uh public investments in that sense uh the commission will advocate for having a biotech and bi manufactoring as part of of the work program of the European Innovation ccil acceleration so that uh this this tool can better support uh biotech companies there are other uh actions related to financing there uh there could be more information uh on on calls relevant to biotech under the different U funding programs in the in the Sovereign portal that is uh uh has been uh included in the step regulation we will also look at how we can uh improve the support that the European Innovation ccil is is is providing to uh biotech companies uh we also look at at how The Innovation fund um can and can provide financial support to uh climate relevant biotech and bio manufacturing uh Innovation uh how to expand the European Tech Champions initiative um uh also uh we will look more Wily at at at other system instruments for financial support and we will also uh look into the possibility of of of uh using uh tax credits for uh uh general or targeted tax credits uh to to fund uh research and Innovation activities so next slide please there are also some actions related to skills uh in that sense we are proposing to to to see if we can launch a large scale partnership for the biotech and and the bino factoring uh also see if the concept of academies that we are having been using the new European bouse can be uh for the built environment can be expanded to other sectors like like related to biotech and bfactory like Styles we will work also on on standards uh related to biom Tech um with the support of the European standardization organizations uh encourage more collaboration and synergies uh especially uh through the uh development of the regional in ation uh valets and the communication has also an international Dimension where we are uh uh proposing uh to uh increase our to to depend in our cooperation with International Partners especially uh the the us as they are one of the leaders in many of the biotech Fields but also partnership with uh uh other regions uh like Africa Latin America the Caribbean on on on biotech uh Health biotech especially manufacturing uh we will look also at trade barriers to biotea manufacturing products and see if we can improve uh or lower this trade barriers through trade agreements and and of course we will be having a prominent role globally especially in the United Nations to ensure that um uh we have a safe and sustainable use of the biotechnology globally and and also finally the the communication is also uh uh announcing that the commission will review the EU bioeconomy strategy by the end of 2025 uh because uh bioeconomy and as you know it’s uh very closely related to to to biotech and bi manufacturing biotech and biom Manufacturing can be seen as part of the bioeconomy and at the same time uh the bioeconomy provides input for for uh for these uh two sectors so next slide please so as as you see the communication propos a set of targeted by meaningful actions that uh with the purpose of of lying the ground for future regulatory action so uh we are at the end of the Mandate the the margin of maneuver of the commission is limited so the the the communication is is as I said is is laying the foundation for for further action and this uh can include as I mentioned before a a possible YouTube EU biotech act that can help to streamline the the rules and Quicken the Journey of of Biotech companies uh from the lab to the market uh so the communication should be seen as a starting point and not as a destination uh and step forward uh towards a more integrated policy approach uh of biot technology and B factoring in the EU uh so that we can help these essential sectors to thrive uh in the EU um so that could be all thank you very much for your attention and happy to to hear what you have to say about about this yeah great thank you very much Carlos and yes a communication is quite quite often a an important step toward bringing about a proposal on legislation regulation and uh action more action on an EU level so that’s um why we’re it’s important to talk about this right now and also to to sound out uh all of you who are uh watching listening uh from uh via slido so you can connect there slido.com biotech or use that um QR code there on your screen to connect uh we want to ask you a three questions before we get to our panel we’ll be sounding out our panel on the feedback uh uh to what Klo said we want to see what you’re thinking what you’re um uh what you’re doing about biotech shall we go to the first question what kind of Biotech are you involved or interested in developing and that is a word cloud that’s you can put in whatever you want what are you working on now or what do you hope to work on in in biotech a lot of different Avenues and that’s why we have a different uh guests on the panel uh from different sectors so industrial biotech that’s a big one healthc care Agra food we have speakers on both of those on our panel bio refining sustainable biomass right so energy very important too biofertilizer that’s what yeah Carlos was mentioning that we got to get greener in agriculture and we have to give Farmers the means to do that so that’s very important part of of uh agriculture okay so industrial biotech seems to be the overriding um activity scale up scale up scale up that’s what we want to do okay why do we move oh bioplastics yeah that’s a good one enzymes okay let’s move to the next question what is a key barrier that you face in biotech and that is something that the U the communication from the commission wants to uh deal with on regulation financing data access skills those are among them and a key concern so far we see is [Music] regulation to make regulation um a bit more friendly to to biotech how do we do that how do we establish a uh a Level Playing Field and financing being the second one access to financing I’m sure as Carlos was talking about and these are all points that uh that are in the communication I’m kind of surprised that skills are at the bottom but uh we can we can talk to the panel about that uh okay next question what is needed to create a more integrated EU biotechnology ecosystem what about that ecosystem how do we develop that and how yeah how can uh the cluster collaboration platform help in that what do we need to create a more integrated ecosystem think about your region because these ecosystems are quite often uh Regional uh but they can also be uh inter Regional to set a standard okay yes collaboration think about the big picture yeah sure EU wide standards yeah that’s where we want to set EU wide standards that’s important to get everybody on the same page across the eu27 cooperation and different specializations a central point of information we need a go-to place for that a more integrated Europe strategy Talent Development mobilization yeah that skills seems like standard is overwriting right now collaborative pilot plants there we go all right so those are some uh ideas to create a more integrated EU biotechnology ecosystem I’m sure all of the the uh the Clusters are working on that and how can we help them to do that okay let’s uh go to the let’s go to the panel what I like to do is if you can all turn on your your uh cameras uh the different speakers and what what I like to do is to start with a lightning round first uh each speaker um presenting themselves uh I I’ll start with feliche Lan cluster manager Lombardi life science cluster you’re working in health and Pharma right feliche hello yes Chris good morning good morning everyone yeah we’re working on the live in live Sciences industry so we’re working with the Pharma mettech with also the research ecosystem and we uh work together with both the private and the public system in lomard so we cover all the aspect related to human life sciences yeah I guess most people know that lombardia is uh Milano but also a huge region there uh near Milano in Northern Italy so it’s a I think I saw that you have uh uh 7,000 thousand companies I saw on your your website Al together uh we we we represent an ecosystem uh it’s 1,000 in Lombardy um it’s uh just almost 800 that belong to the industry Association we are connected with and but we if we consider also the public it’s uh it’s almost 1,000 if you also take into account the hospitals because lomber is a very special region in Italy it’s both have uh private hospitals and public hospitals so it’s a sort of hybrid public collaboration okay very good let’s uh move to Gonzaga Ruiz Lea Gutierrez uh managing director of Bio vegan is that right bovan yeah it’s all right you’re also you’re an Agra food right wherever you want okay yes okay you’re an agricultural in the food sector right mainly yeah yeah that’s right uh try to to to help our members to to deploy plan ey technology skills and and and Technologies and processes and products H good morning everyone first of all I’m happy to be here today such an interesting event please to share our our opinions ER I think we will have a lot of points in common I think we will share very interesting uh ideas thank you very much to Nina the rest of the of the E cluster team to organize this event um yeah we work in Spain we are the Spanish technology platform for pla technology ER we work in the field of the five of six FS that are involved in plant production you mentioned it before I don’t know if it was Carlos food feeld fiber fuel forestry and also fun Environmental Services ornamental production and We Gather up to now we started working in 2005 with 10 members and we are almost 200 members and um most of them are companies uh 90% more or less of the the um and the rest of our members are of course Academia public research institutions and also technological centers universities and so on and We Gather uh knowledge generation in biot technology and and and also te technology demands on on plan biot technology and we help our members to er er develop their R&D activities in a very much easier way so we are like we are like R&D managing Services providers very good okay uh let’s move to gorena boaga Savage European project manager I got that right right yeah great European project manager biotech gorena how did you get there well it’s been a journey my my life has been very interesting as I did study in many countries and in the end I ended up in France I really like this region and it’s really a pleasure to be working in a cluster that’s uh embodying both biotech and health sectors um I can just say a few words about the region if for people who don’t know bretan is the region that is based in the west part of France and it has really unique geographical position as it has access to Atlantic Ocean but it’s also very rich in terms of um technology and development as it’s one of the it’s the actually the leading region of Agriculture and Agri food in France uh fun fact it’s feeding more than 50% of the France just that one region alone really yeah that’s impressive yes and as it has access to Ocean Marine biotechnology obviously is a huge point for us uh and it’s uh also in the region strategy to improve biotechnology in Marina sector and also in the smart specialization strategy that we closely follow and support um bran in general as a region is the second region when it comes to digitalization and development of different technology in this sector and also third region in health sector and um biotechnology General with many relevant stakeholders and we as a cluster we are a technological innovation cluster and we are based in Ren as you said and we are supporting actually seven key markets that are important in in our region so it’s Eco Industries Cosmetics biotech Pharma uh agroindustry nutrition Health Medical Technologies and ealth and the main mission of Biotech Santan is to enhance innovation in both of the sectors mainly biotech and and health boosting competitiveness by connecting Regional and international actors supporting companies growth uh through Innovation networking funding guidance Regulatory and scientific intelligence as well and also international support and access to the market and I’m working as a EU project manager so I’m mainly involved with uh EU projects International developments but we also have a set of great project manager experts that work in each field that are here to help our companies and uh our company at at at the moment we are around 200 members that are mostly smmes but we also have a research institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the region that are our members and that which we collaborate together yeah connecting companies with Academia that’s fantastic about that yeah that’s great uh wur Pipers uh CEO of Flanders bio uh it’s 20 years old now right years yes Chris thank you um 20 years and we are celebrating it celebrating life science and business since 20 years but the ecosystem in flers and Belgium is older than 20 years of of course we’re looking back at half a century of excellence and there’s a lot of stake uh for ecosystem as you look at Belgium U you look at and compared in Europe we are number one in biofarma R&D expenditure per capita number two in patent application per capita and clinical trials number two per capita and so on and so on and I can go on and it’s been going on for a while so there’s a lot of um of things at stake I am the CEO of flounders bio and flounders bio is the um one of the oldest I think um reference clusters or network associations for the biotech and the life science Industry in flus and Belgium we have close to 350 members um originating from Flanders but equally from Brussels and wallonia and from abroad our mission is all about ecosystem building strengthening and we do that um um by means of a number of strategies that we um field from basically connecting and networking or members organizations with uh the different stakeholders but also through uh new technologies and Trends in the markets not just in Europe but globally obviously um we work on strategies around Discovery and basic science and translation of that science and valorization working together against with leading institutes in in Europe such as Vib and imic and uh bridge to of course uh uh testing strategies preclinical and and clinical testing so uh all all the areas that I’m sure the colleagues are also active in um strategies around funding and talent are absolutely Central at everything that we do in the so very relevant and I’m glad to hear uh all the comments from from before um advocacy that’s why that is also why we want to make sure that our voice is uh is heard and that we can enter those conversations such as we are doing today which is excellent thank you for that and then finally the building around infrastructure because sometimes it’s overlooked but you need to have the right infrastructure and also also uh When developing Therapeutics or uh technology platforms you’re always doing it for the world you’re never doing it for your own ecosystem so internationalization is key well okay great thank for having me y thank you well lter uh the uh all of you watching and listening uh be sure to put in your questions as you’re listening you might have some questions come to mind there’s that Q&A button at the bottom let’s see them come in uh let’s let’s go to feliche back to feliche um and from what you heard from Carlos uh what what sort of feedback do you have on on those different points that he made uh you know in mind that this is a communication from the commission but it could very well lead to a uh a proposal of legislation uh in in the next uh legislative term after the elections yeah well um I mean we totally agree and we’re very interested and happy to see that the European Union and the commission has worked on this uh really broad topic because as we have seen and we have said biotechnologies cover all the aspects all the industries uh they really apply to every sector and coming from uh also an industry Association I may say that I see this spreading really uh on every industry uh so it’s it’s really important to to to to work on this uh barriers that we we have faced and we are facing uh at European level also because there’s this huge competitiveness and competitivity of the United States and in China as well and the Europe of course uh must work in this um I I mean I totally agree and I connect to something you have said before that one of the main uh topics we really need to work on it’s uh both culture and skills I mean I was also surprised to see how they were you know ranked yeah yeah um is that the biggest is that the biggest uh barrier for well I think I think it’s it’s really important for two reasons uh at least uh so we have said um many clusters work on connecting the university ecosystem with industry which or the research ecosystem which is really important because uh what I’ve seen in the last eight years is that uh especially in Lombardy universities more and more have asked us to connect with the industry to check if their curses or pluses and skills they were providing to new students uh were uh updated and uh sufficient to get the correct labor and Workforce to sustain the development of the biotechnologies and biom Manufacturing industry which is really important and connections between European universities and international courses it’s fundamental but also we need to face the also the um upskilling and reskilling theme um just in itally since we are working a lot on this topic because of the demographic transition we have switched from uh at at least 30% over 50 employees share of over 15 place to a 40% in the last 10 years so we imagine that in the next 10 years the I mean the share will be between 50 and 60% so there’s not any more time to work just on you know uh students and university courses we need also to work on a system providing continuously upd skills to to the workforce and it’s a very important issue especially in Italy because we are the first producers for uh Pharmaceuticals Lumber is uh I think the first producer ver since we have the majority of the C cdmos in Italy and also at the European level but still uh the biotech transition will affect also companies that are continuously working on chemicals or traditional uh materials and uh we need this as well to to to switch uh to the to the biotech as well and to to be competitive also with with the rest of the world and it’s something that I guess really applies to different countries right right okay let me move to Gonzaga um yeah feedback on the communication but also I think um you you could tell us a little bit about um how biotech fits in the value chain how important that is right yeah of course um I absolutely agree with the with the challenges identified in the in the communication bi technology I’m Al I also agree with my colleague Fel and and and I we are so happy that the commission has made this first step ER regarding the skills issue yeah I find it so important because and I was also surprised that he was in a such low position in the in the r before but as well as you I think and um yeah but but I think when when we sometimes well I think that all classers are trying to to put together the resources to align resources capacities in bi technology knowledge and technological demand for the companies which are the also the the carriers of the of the demands of the citizens the consumers and uh we all try and this is part of the success I think of the of the clusters of the public private Association that Tred to boost public private collaboration which is a term which is was not so a fashion 20 years ago at least in Spain at least in the agriculture sector in the plan sector we have done a a a a big job I think here and uh and when we think about public private collaboration and Technology transfer collaborative Innovation we usually think about collaborative projects Academy industry projects patents Li licensing but what about the people what about the professionals it’s so important to give them opportunities not only to develop their scientific career in the public sector in the public field because they have to keep on generating basic science but they have also to have a channels to find out where are the opportunities to H jump into the private sector into the R&D Department companies well actually last last week I we organized a a a company session in a scientific Congress related to biotic interaction in plants with microorganisms and the Scientifics all they were surprised that to see how the companies spoke the same languages as them because we have short presentation presentations of company that develop ear the activities and they have inh house doctors scientific professionals no so it’s quite surprising to see how still the scientific Community gets surprised about this fact so we we need to H ER keep pushing the the the the using of that human resources from the from the private sector so if we want to boost a knowledge based economy okay and and the the biotech in the value chain can you give an example of that how that fits into the value chain I think perhaps with the breed breeding of plant varieties for instance for instance yeah plant VAR is more resilience to this the bi biotic and biotic stresses and also very important to develop bio inputs inputs based on on on bioproducts bios Solutions fertilizers and also phytos sanitaries those those inputs that are necessary to make a a a more prec size agriculture which is the the the the way we all are trying to boost and we try to to get to the future of Agriculture that actually is a present it’s present okay great uh let me move to uh gorena and gorena um uh you know the one of the great aspects of of of clusters is not only that that networking that Nina was talking about those networking events but also different activities and uh your organization is uh uh working uh in um Home Care uh there’s an ace Home Care uh group right yeah we have a lot of different projects that yeah can we can we talk about that because you had a meeting in Len in January the ace is accelerating Home Care ecosystem and you visited a health house yeah yeah tell us about it yeah and also I want to just first say uh thank you for the great presentation and initiative from EU commission uh as an European project manager International collaboration I feel that is essential it’s essential and also connecting regions and not letting regions be stuck in their own little ecosystem yeah and uh EU projects are very important as one of the ways how we can connect and work on the same needs and as you said we had a really interesting as a part of our some of our activities where we visited the home care of the future and just held in the future uh and it really shows how digitalization with changes in AI that are very fast with the development of the technology that’s also very fast how our future can look like uh it’s at the same time very inspiring but it’s also scary and I think uh that’s a reality of for everyone um can you give can you give an example of what you saw at that uh Health house for example a lot of um a lot of aspects that we were looking is how how production of medication is going to be more catered to the person based on their DNA prepositions based on the lifestyle and how actually the personalized approach is going to be much more in Focus moving forward uh for that also we need uh a lot of Technology that’s going to support it not only the digital aspects of it that are going to help and I found that very interesting in terms of having a personalized approach um but I also want to go back to the value chain obstacles okay because I think it’s a very important topic as well and as I said like here in Britain we work a lot in biotech Marine it’s very important aspects and sustainable sustainably Gathering the bio resources as well it’s very important and staying sustainable for the long term it’s going to impact positively not only the industry economy as well and the society as well in the end because we are all part of the society uh and one of the issues that we are also facing here it’s a issues that companies are facing whether they are very small uh companies or bigger companies is actually um having technologies that are more sustainable that they already have improving already existing processes and Technologies so they are more they’re cheaper they reduce CO2 emissions uh they are also more in line with the green transition and how can we sustainably buy resource algaes for example that are huge source of marine b b resources that are being valorized as through the processing a lot of alies reduce their size simply that’s how it is and then you need a lot of biomass to produce certain uh compounds that can be later used in and applied in different fields in development of uh nutrition in development of um medications and so on application in cosmetics so having like ways how to navigate in this value chain the sustainability is very important topic and that’s also very much in line what uh what a lot of people were saying it’s regulations complex regulations that we have on EU level but also every country has its own little thing so navigating through that it’s uh very difficult sometimes these regulations are a bit contradictory uh and that can also be overwhelming for uh starting companies so startups and smmes who have excellent research we have a great we have we all organize a lot of events where companies can collaborate with universities uh and there is a great exchange of knowledge here and on these collaborative projects as well um but sometimes it’s very difficult to push new things on the market for example development of new the Therapeutics uh it’s costly timec consuming to understand the the regulations and then to implement them as well licensing different um approval that costs a lot and it can be very challenging for example for a startup that has a great idea did a great research in collaboration with universities but money can be a funding options and obstacle for example some of the things that I would like to highlight yeah that maybe this this uh biotech act could uh could address absolutely I think this is necessary and also with that being said with all the changes there is so much changes in Innovations Technologies uh in all aspects have to be open for adapting these regulations uh to the new challenges and the new the future simply more open for yeah it’s moving fast W very fast wo is moving fast isn’t it it’s a biotech it’s can you give us an example woter of it’s moving very it’s moving very fast and um it’s great to see the European commission stepping forward with with this act um I’m I’m I’m sorry to hear that Ginko got scared by visiting Len s house and by seeing all the applications scared Len but the future that’s very fastly changing yeah yeah no no but that is the opportunity I think it’s moving fast I think we are living the The Perfect Storm with um of course things that were mentioned before during the presentation climate change impact uh you know the the food crisis um geopol iCal tensions that the migration streams that the cost of healthc care is is uh going through the roof because of the technological progress and Innovation and and examples that were given but at the same time you see um the opportunity for for biotech and of Biotech for health applications Agri food Tech applications and and and Etc have never been bigger I’ve I’ve been able to we had our own conference uh two weeks ago uh I’ve attended imix ITF World Conference I was yesterday at an omix for health conference in in Brussels and and I mean I I really think this this is a a time where we potentially and we will uh experience some man on the moon uh moments in in biotech and brought to us bi biotic and new technologies so so examples uh I mean look at the impact of artificial intelligence on uh the potential for drug development starting from um um characterization of of molecules and selection from molecules in the database of 10,000 100,000 compounds where uh the process took us years or sometimes and and millions millions of Euros or dollars no artificial intelligence can help us uh get to the same results and even better results faster really much faster and and uh already der risking some of the uh uh things you know Investments even of as well uh starting the development process so so and that that applies through the whole uh R&D cycle of for direct development so it’s great opportunity or their risks or their challenges of course uh do we need to put uh uh certain things in place to to manage that process uh certainly also when uh using artificial intelligence uh towards patient patient care yeah um uh for sure but um the opportunities are huge and also necessary because technology will uh help us also unlock the Enigma for how to manage the cost of healthcare going forward at all levels going from from Discovery over testing to manufacturing ET and and delivery of care to to the patients so yeah yeah lots of uh opportunities I see and uh a lot of um topics that are mentioned in the communications uh align definitely with the priorities that we have uh set forward since many years and and yeah and still so they’re singing your song uh yes yes but at the same time Chris there’s also concerns of course because we we’ve all been around and um we’ve uh we see this coming the industry and really talking on behalf of the industry now we see this coming and you know when you’re developing technology a drug or Therapeutics it’s a a longterm game um you you need to uh build your business plans um there’s a lot of risks involved um risks that you need to manage and that that requires foresight and transparency uh predictability of U of Frameworks and so on yeah and um and that is a concern I have to say yeah a concern so communication about the concerns are important so uh but that’s a concern um and you know drug development or Therapeutics and and even when you see um areas like antibody uh development both in health and active food Tech these days that’s even more interesting um you need to have uh a foresight and that is very important it’s all about risk management as well both on the Pharma side on the emerging biotech side but also on the investor side and that’s very important investors looking at picking their projects and taking decisions they also need to have that predictability and for yeah to to to improve access to finance too exactly they are doing the risk management and when there’s uncertainty and lack of foresight they will look at other Alternatives there’s the risk for uh for all of us actually yeah this the one of the questions here in the list that I see coming in and keep them coming in you can put them in the Q&A button down at the bottom of the screen everybody uh uh I see some in the chat and that’s fine too really um what about and and we did touch on this among some of you in the panel is uh what about the the experience of transferring biotechnologies this is from Lucas uh tral in in pag hi Lucas uh how is your experience with transferring bio Technologies from the research area uh to practice uh transfer Technologies um Can somebody give a an example of that um because I obviously uh I think all of you are connecting Academia research with these businesses with these startups can somebody give an experience of that and how how it worked Me Maybe um how it worked well or maybe it could have worked better well um if I may there I think there’s there’s many ways uh through all the different clusters and organizations like us are are doing this personally uh what we’re trying to do now with a with a ly Life Sciences EOS system is both working on um putting I mean generating a sort of network between the technology transfer offices of both universities research centers and hospitals um so that they can share what they are working on priorities uh most important projects and Innovations so they’re kind of representing the research base uh in their organizations and we at the same time uh connect with the all the relevant with all relevant companies uh and organizations private organizations interested in cooperating funding and uh I mean scaling up this important research to something that might be then a new service of products do you have you have a concrete example of that of of how hopefully maybe your your cluster has been able to facilitate that going from research to Market yeah uh so um just to give you an example we are working now with um the national research National research centers it’s called the human technopol so ideas to they’ve been launching new research platforms so they’re really increasing the numbers of researchers also coming from different countries even worldwide countries uh to Italy and what we are trying to do is to work on for example all the uh digital uh digitalization tools appli to human life sciences and uh connect this kind of research to the clinical operations of some uh important Italian corporates that are willing to apply then those models to their to their uh I mean research and the clinical activities and then fostering the development of new Pharmaceuticals and drugs another projects we have been promoting uh with the with the same kind of the same idea but then we also got in touch with International research ecosystems it’s a project called escalate uh it’s something um woters was telling us about something like that so it’s a platform that basically enables discovering among different molecules uh in a very fast way so it’s a completely AI based tool that really fasten uh make faster the process of discovery research so it’s kind of you uh ask for an information you ask for a specific disease a specific condition and this system is able to give you an answer of what kind of molecules to today you have that can address that kind of issue and that’s really important so we have been working on connecting research this platform but also connecting also this platform towards the potential fundings they could exceed so even at the European level right gorena at University dur any any example of that of bringing research to Market that uh that has been facilitated well I can give some general examples that are very interesting as they concern the biotech Marine notably uh where there has been a lot of effort and also recently a very important project has got funding from national funding French funding uh where there are from research point of view universities are trying to develop new proteins and peptides from algaes and then also new ways how to extract these um proteins and enzymes with a techn ology that’s much better and then with the work of companies how we can Implement them in producing new food as of course there is a need and transition to the alternative food U options and protein options this is one of the for example interesting initiative that has been taking place uh there is there also NV as a cluster we facilitated connection between companies and uh research there is a lot of innovative projects in projects in our region General but also what comes to my mind is uh using like the waste from you know when you have the biomass that you’re using for certain production using the waste and how can you use this waste in some another forms for example developing a bioplastic as a plastic is I would say a problem in all Industries it’s also necessary uh for packaging in cosmetics in food industry in various other forms and having something that’s organic that’s um bio degradable it’s very important in terms of sustainability so also we have companies in our region that are working a lot in collaboration with universities how to develop bioplastics and other alternative um products that can be used in various Industries okay uh W around the University of Len um I’ve seen around Len University there are a lot of uh um there’s a lot of research and there are a lot of small companies and startups around there is that an example of you know fast tracking research to Market it’s definitely definitely one of the hubs there’s a number of hubs Len is is one of those since uh since uh yeah half a century I think looking at the driving force in in Loven is obviously the the TR transfer office that was created 50 years ago and that’s part of tenu tenu is a is a group of tto worldwide including Stanford Cambridge and so on and it’s been it’s been really uh a driving force for Innovation together with L research and development so um it’s eff example the collaboration with uh Beyond Len with vibb the research institute that works uh across the whole country you could say or region is very important vibs researchers are also embedded in the different universities so they have their own Labs but they’re also embedded in the in the labs of the different research groups of the different universities and that kind of uh you know consolidates the collaboration and exchange and they also also the collaboration with the with the dto of the different universities so it’s not just L it’s also G limberg ANP and Brussels and so on so and that’s been going on since since many years with with with the results I mean looking at half a century ago I mean um the compound coming from Len uh was at the origin of one of the first um products for rush rush u in the US TPA is coming out of the labs in L and it was actually one of the first projects that was at the at the origin of of the the tto creation see see and and and there’s HIV uh medicines that uh coming out of there’s the Rea Institute that actually is at the origin of jsk in Belgium with with a lot of vaccine expertise and a lot of spin-offs that are also working in that area the antibody platforms uh etc etc I can go on Chris that yeah right right right right right one quick point I think that that that I see in your in uh in some notes I got is that uh you you want to avoid the um that some industry goes to a third countries um and I think that you know I I might call that bile leakage I mean there’s yeah but it’s it’s um it’s what I mentioned can you talk about how I think you want legislation that is supportive so that these companies don’t leave and I think I think the intent is is there and and uh definitely um the right ENT but uh but it’s very important to again going back to to the risk management technology development drug development it’s an exercise of risk management both from uh making choices uh for R&D tracks long-term R&D clinical pre-clinical development plans but also for for investors to invest in those and in order to be able to invest in order to uh build your your business plan you need to have a line of sight on your um offset your return investment uh over time uh your level of protection as well we talked about uh IP it’s very important um I’m I’m looking at uh the communication and I see a lot of it in there as well at the same time um there’s a lot of uh legislation farmer legislation coming our way and um there’s also guidance in there or discussions about shortening uh those uh timelines and so on or making them dependent on uh access to uh for for for medicines to to all markets again with the right intentions but the the discussions that are ongoing U until it’s decided the industry and let me be very clear the industry is perfectly able to work with decisions and based on decisions but while discussions are ongoing the uncertainty remains and um okay decisions are taken by the industry now about tomorrow’s plans and the risk exists that because of the uncertainty that uh choices are made to start up R&D projects elsewhere yeah it takes years so there years it takes years so I we we are leading in uh for instance in clinical trials you can see though that in in statistics for the past years we also developing helps in Belgium but also in other countries in in Europe around atmp it’s the next big thing um selling gen therapies and so on we really catching up and and making strides big strides in in in that area yeah but you need to uh plan your Investments and you need to build your business plans for long term and you need to do that with a certain level of uh certainty and um and and sometimes it’s uh difficult yeah okay let’s uh let me move quickly to to uh Gonzaga um uh I I have a question about from someone about the ecological impact of developing biotech um can you talk a bit about that oh well yeah yeah that’s uh what would biot technology ER I think a very important solution I think maybe the most important to solution to address the environmental impact issues and problems we’ve been facing on throughout all these years you know the agriculture production has been doing a great job during the last decades but there have been some problems you know the objective in in 1970s were different than the the objectives that we have right now in the in the Europe in the European Union and uh and bi technology and science and applied plan biology I think is a a key factor this you know this a mixture between uh digital digitalization and also biot technology which I think there are the most important the two main factors to address in in the in the Agra food sector I think uh is is there how hopeful are you that biotech can help in finding new ways for plant protection able to cut pesticides for instance right yeah yeah for instance we are very interested and and much working our members like half of our members work in those BI Solutions I mentioned before by pesticides bio stimulants bio bio solutions for uh improving the productivity of our crops for uh also the tools uh from that can boost ER plant breeding programs and I mean ER mainly uh the new genomic techniques uh to boost new new or to develop new plant varieties more resilient more productive more efficient more efficient in the in in the in taking advantage of the of the inputs and and we need to do so a a better framework better legal framework framework that we have nowadays we are aware that the European Union is moving ahead with their legislative proposal this year but H we have to move quickly until that to that because if we do not do it other will so actually as you may know a lot of countries continents are developing a legal Frameworks that led their stakeholders to to to develop properly this uh genomic techniques and bi Technologies yep don’t let Europe get left behind on this got to get on the train uh my thanks to uh all the speakers and uh for the questions coming in I think this was a good discussion good critique feedback on the communication from the European Commission on biotech um let’s see what happens after the election after the further discussions on U what we should do about promoting biotech um and biomanufacturing uh in Europe uh thanks to all of you uh let’s move on to our uh the next part which is the funding opportunities and that of course is addressing uh part of the concern which is access to finance well Nina can you give us hope thanks Chris and thanks everybody for the very interesting points I believe the discussion uh can go on for another two hours um absolutely at the at the end of the cluster we also share the link to the discussion group so feel free to also uh connect by LinkedIn turn that discussion group to keep the keep the points coming in that we couldn’t cover right now um but to close uh regarding funding opportunities there are call some calls open that might be interesting um for you or for your members um there’s a call from uh Horizon Research Innovation action which is called biotch rods to obtain biobased chemicals SL materials replacing animal derived ones and here where successful proposals should contribute to the development of sustainable biobased products in the form of Novel scalable and sustainable biotech production routes um biobased chemicals or materials that meet end users requirements and the availability of safe and sustainable byed products by Design uh and of course contribute to the positive socioeconomic impacts across the value chain and social acceptance of circular bi-based Solutions proposals should have a multi-actor approach involving All actors of the value chain and the call is open until the 18th of September you find the link in the to the funding in tenders portals fors another call that is open is called babase dedicated platform chemicals via cost effective sustainable and resource efficient conversion of biomass so we talked about biomass as well in the discussion here project should contribute to create sustainable large scape production of biased platform chemicals with um dedicated Camal structures and availability of a broad range of biobased chemicals meeting market and Technical performance requirements so facilitating also the market uptake of biased Solutions contribute to an improved circularity and resource efficiency of the Bier based value chains as well as improved sustainability strategic autonomy resilience and competitiveness of the European chemical industry it’s a horizon Innovation action with the same deadline 18 of September published on the funding and tenders portal click on the link in the chat if you’re interested um another call is the biobased materials and products for biogradable inso applications here the call seeks um projects that should contribute to the availability of safe and sustainable bu design biobased Solutions aiming at zero waste and zero pollution that contribute to Industrial competitiveness and resource independence of biobased valy chains improve circularity social acceptance and the in ative manufacturing process to enable a safe biodegradation of biobased materials and products along the environmental conditions and time frames ofic applications also Horizon Innovation action same deadline 18th of September published on the funding in tenders portal reminder also that the call for the Enterprise Europe network is open this is probably Network that you’re also familiar with it provides business support and advisory services particularly to smmes um talking uh to the smmes giving them information advice feedback and paring service um talking about innovation technology and knowledge transfer and the call is looking to set up the New Consortium that will manage the Enterprise Europe network from July 25 until December 28 actions to be funded are the provision of course of these services to the clients the promotion of the network development of the the network as well as the coordination and project management um the call is published under the single Market program it’s action Grant based with multiple cut offs but the first deadline is the 19th of September so have a look at this as well at the EU funding intend and last but not least to remind you that there are calls from our Euro clusters open so as you know the Europe clusters are joined initiatives from clusters across the different ecosystems so um we talked about Marine today there’s for example the C water pluster that is working on water smart solutions they have a call open um but it also um ranges across the different ecosystems for Mobility the creative and cultural Industries green manufacturing about energy energy intensive Industries so have a look at what is open fores this targeting SES um just make clear on the European cluster collaboration platform where all the calls from the Euro clusters that are currently open are published well thanks uh have a look at all these opportunities and back to you Chris thanks a lot Nina I like that name gemstone for green manufacturing what a great name uh that’s all for now on the EU clusters talks be sure to register for those you can see them on the screen the next talks a lot of good issues to talk about um and register for the of course the uh the cluster collaboration platform you can as Nina said continue the discussion online uh in the uh LinkedIn discussion group that you can see on your screen There’s the link there and if you heard anything great uh during this talk please put it on #e clusters talks and there you can see the website to visit um yeah I think that about does it we’re recorded for playbacks and the slides available in the European cluster collaboration platform you can see those slides there in that uh that uh web page that website I’m Chris Burns thanks for watching see you next time [Music]