2016 marked the 10th anniversary of Biocat, the strategic agent for the promotion and acceleration of the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem in Catalonia.
The intense work carried out over the years has given clear indicators of the impact that the organization’s projects and activities have had on the growth and consolidation of the BioRegion, which we have summed up in an infographic published with Biocat’s Annual Report 2016.
The Catalan healthcare and life sciences sector as a whole contributes 7.1% to Catalonia’s annual GDP and has a total turnover of 29,241 million euros. The BioRegion encompasses 871 companies and 95 research organizations, most of which are concentrated in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and which employ around 150,000 workers. Since 2006, 280 million euros of investment has been raised (160 million euros over the past three years) and 75 new companies have been created −including 95 spin-offs−, representing an average growth of one new company per week.
Since 2008, Biocat has invested more than 11 million euros in programs and activities within the framework of its strategic focal points: Raising Awareness and Projecting the Sector, Entrepreneurship and Business Growth and Valorization and Transfer of Knowledge of the BioRegion of Catalonia. The more than 300 activities organized attracted over 20,000 participants, 2,300 students and 1,400 firms and organizations. In terms of business, 96 projects have been accelerated and 300 direct new jobs created.
At the same time, various services have been launched to strengthen the links between all the agents and members of the ecosystem and to achieve greater international impact and visibility. These services include the BioRegion Directory (www.catalanlifesciences.com)—which already lists 1,200 Catalan firms and organizations—, the website and the industry presentation, the monthly newsletter, and the Job Listing, in which more than 1,700 job offers have been posted.
Along with the infographic, Biocat has published its Annual Report 2016, which includes a summary of the year’s activities and achievements.
Important goals were achieved in 2016, such as the publication of the 2015 Biocat Report, and the organization of the Forum of the BioRegion, which brought together 300 of the sector’s key opinion leaders and offered a mainly international program. International synergies were strengthened through participation in the BIO International Convention and the Boston and Japan missions. Biocat has also consolidated collaborative projects with foreign clusters such as BioXclusters Plus.
Biocat has continued to collaborate in the Moebio accelerator initiative and its medical technology entrepreneurship program, d·HEALTH Barcelona, and in other networking activities such as Health & Bio Team Dating and Lessons Learned. It has also organized 69 scientific debates as part of the B·Debate initiative promoted by Biocat and La Caixa.
Lastly, Biocat continues to manage other major projects aimed at mobilizing resources for the BioRegion, including EIT Health and RIS3CAT NEXTHEALTH Community.
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