Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol2-1 > Welcome to BioInnovation 2010

Biotechnology is a pillar of our innovation society and an essential component of our response to the biggest challenges we face in the 21st century. It is with pleasure that I introduce BIO Innovation 2010. This comprehensive overview of the biotechnology sector aims to outline the challenges and opportunities facing the biotechnology industry in its quest to innovate. We hope it will be valuable reading to any organisation looking for collaboration or partnerships in the field of biotechnology and life sciences. Editorials are dedicated to agricultural biotechnology, healthcare and industrial biotechnology, along with a key focus highlighting finance for the biotechnology SMEs as the lifeblood of European innovation.

Over the coming decades, we need to find an abundance of new solutions to cope with our ageing populations, the impacts of climate change, and the crises in food and energy security. We will need to use all of the tools and resources at our disposal to achieve our common vision of a world free of poverty, disease, hunger and pollution.

Hope lies in the hands of the scientists in research centres and universities who are using new technologies, biotechnology, to find responses to these challenges. Thanks to our great tradition of excellence in these establishments, many of the best are in Europe. Europe has also produced industries that translate science and biotechnology discovery into societal and economic value, including a vibrant sector of start-ups, spin-offs and SMEs.

Where the continuity between science and industry has been enabled by coherent thinking between policy-makers, economic actors and stakeholders, we have developed thriving pharmaceutical, agricultural biotechnology, chemical and biochemical sectors providing European solutions to global problems. Where it has failed, innovation and industry has been stunted, shut down and driven elsewhere. This, unfortunately, is a rapidly developing trend in the field of biotechnology and the life sciences.

In recent years, while emerging economies have forged ahead, innovation in biotechnology in the EU has struggled to contend with high taxation, labour costs and regulatory overkill. Compounding this problem is the fragmentation and lack of co-ordination between funding sources available for early development and a lack of industrial support needed for the full-scale economic deployment of the results of biotechnology innovation.

Progress has also been hindered by a widening awareness gap between the scientific community and the public about the essential role of science and technology in social and economic development. In the field of biotechnology, we are keenly aware that while confusion breeds fear, understanding leads to support. Although the majority of Europeans might not know what biotechnology is, when we tell them what biotechnology can achieve, they support it. Europeans want finding new energy solutions and cures for diseases to be top policy priorities. But if the average European does not know the significance and importance of biotechnology, then will our elected representatives make biotechnology their priority?

If we are to benefit from the results of our life science and biotechnology innovation sector in Europe, we need coherent and consistent policies to support it. That means, in addition to R&D policies, regulation in the industrial, agriculture, trade, healthcare and environmental sectors must be based on a clear definition of our long development goals. Both our economic significance in the global marketplace and our ability to cope with the challenges that face future generations of Europeans depend upon it.

We hope you enjoy this edition of BIO Innovation 2010 and that it will provide a helpful insight to contribute towards the success of your business and indeed the biotechnology industry as a whole.