Internationalization

Nearly 300 delegates from Catalan companies and organizations participated in international benchmark events in 2011, coordinated by Biocat. The current economic climate forced efforts to focus specifically on participation in the BIO 2011 convention (27-30 June, Washington, USA) and, in Europe, in BIO-Europe (31 October-2 November, Düsseldorf, Germany), we also coordinated smaller delegations to various international events, like Euromediag International Convention (6-7 July, Montpellier, France) and the European Cancer Cluster Partnering (14-16 September, Toulouse, France).

In 2011, Biocat has continued participating in meetings and activities organized by the various international networks we belong to in order to drive new scientific and business collaboration projects. One of these is the Southern Europe Biocluster (BSE), made up of bioclusters and employers’ associations from the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées, and under the framework of the Euroregion, held various events in Toulouse (April and November), Montpellier (July) and Menorca (September). Some of the BSE members were also present at the seminar Innovation and research in the Pyrenees Mediterranean Euroregion, held on 21 November at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona and organized by the permanent secretariat of the Euroregion, under the framework of the Catalan presidency of the organization.

One of the fruits of contact established under the framework of the BSE was the start-up, in mid 2011, of the European Diagnostic Clusters Alliance (EDCA). Biocat is a founding member of this network and hosted the first meeting of the governing body in Barcelona in November. The eight participating clusters, which represent more than 500 companies and organizations devoted to diagnostics, aim to promote the competitiveness and internationalization of European stakeholders in in vitro diagnostics.

Biocat’s internationalization activity is rounded out with a series of scientific and business collaboration projects under the framework of EU programs.