Thursday, 17 June 2010

With not less than 11 companies represented on the booth – Artelis, Beta-Cell, Cardionics, Eurobiotec, Harrison Clinical Research, HM3A, Ovizio, Peptisyntha, Pronovem, Symfo, and UCB - 2 universities - UCL and ULB-  the Bio.be federation, bodies of support as the Health Business Unit of BEA, Brussels Export, Invest in Brussels and the “Bio&Pharma in Brussels” cluster, the Brussels-Capital Region was solidly represented this year at Bio Chicago 2010.

Attendance was higher than previous year and, as Nancy Meyerson-Hess from Harrison Clinical Research pointed out, the event was as always a great place to tie up high level contacts: “BIO 2010 Meeting provides a good opportunity for all types of businesses involved in some way with Biotech to gather. The meeting is very large from attendance, yet the opportunity for networking makes it seem very small and allows a good exchange of ideas”.

Serge Bodart, CEO of Symfo was also satisfied with the company’s participation in the fair: “Bio is definitely an interesting event to participate to. It offers to SMEs like Symfo a chance to explore the BioTech market and get a feeling of the evolution of this market.”

In fact, nearly 260 contacts were established during this event by the Brussels actors and not less than 70 could end in potential collaboration. Among these 70 high-potential contacts, already 20 future meetings were planned directly during the show.

The different events organized for the Belgian delegation were also really appreciated: The Belgian Breakfast Meeting, on the topic “Biotech in Belgium: High Return on Investment” gathered nearly 190 people. Regarding The Belgian Café, nearly 700 people showed up at the Buddy Guy's Legends.

Likewise, Matt Kremer from Artelis, expressed positive reactions about the whole event."BIO 2010 was better attended compared to last year.  Participants seemed to be quite focused on why they were there and what they wanted to accomplish.  I came away with quality contacts from the Belgian Breakfast, the Belgian stand, BIOpartnering and meeting with other exhibitors. The Belgian Cafe, as always, was a special event that my guests will remember with pleasure.”

Finally, the Bio US event is still this year again a success for the BioPharma players from the Brussels-Capital Region. The 2011 edition will be held in Washington on June 27-30.

Source: BIO