Welcome

Today, Catalonia is an undisputed benchmark in Europe for healthcare innovation. And it is in every respect: research, business growth, competitive funding, publications and clinical trials. This is reflected in the data presented in the Biocat report you now hold in your hands.

This achievement rests on three strengths: a solid ecosystem, not isolated projects. A sound, sustained strategy over time. And the talent, hard work and commitment of thousands of professionals.

All of this is the result of Biocat’s excellent work and a shared vision of progress for our country, a model for shared prosperity that is very clear to us in Catalonia: an alliance of companies, institutions, universities and administrations.

Healthcare is essential to people’s wellbeing, but it goes far beyond that. It is a strategic driver of economic growth, social cohesion in our country and European autonomy. Today, the sector is Catalonia’s third largest source of wealth, employing more than 280,000 people and contributing 7.6% to our Gross Domestic Product. These figures clearly demonstrate the growing weight of this industry and its ability to generate shared prosperity.

This vibrancy is also reflected in our capacity to attract talent and investment. Last year, foreign investment in the BioRegion increased by 55%, a clear indicator of renewed international confidence in our innovation ecosystem. Catalonia is now among the top ten regions worldwide in participation in clinical trials, ranking eighth in the world. This puts us, with pride and responsibility, among the leading economies in biomedical research.

This leadership is not the result of improvisation, but of a firm, sustained commitment by the country. Through the Catalonia Leads economic plan, the Government will allocate €2 billion to knowledge and innovation over the next five years. Because only by placing knowledge at the core can we ensure smart, inclusive, sustainable growth.

Catalonia aspires to be the most powerful hub of biomedical innovation in southern Europe and to rank among the top 50 most innovative regions on the continent. This is an ambitious goal, but fully achievable if we continue working together: administrations, companies, research centers and civil society. The BioRegion model works: an ecosystem where collaboration multiplies results and turns challenges into opportunities.

The Government of Catalonia will continue to support and promote this strategic sector. We will keep working, side by side, to ensure that healthcare innovation is a tool for progress, hope and the future. Because leadership in the life sciences means moving toward a fairer, more prosperous country that is better prepared to face major global challenges.

As CEO of Biocat, I am pleased to present the 2024 Activity Report, twelve months of work that have allowed us to make progress in our strategic lines and to continue strengthening the BioRegion of Catalonia as one of Europe’s leading life sciences and healthcare innovation ecosystems. A sector committed to the needs and challenges we face as a society, made up of actors and institutions with a vocation for growth and transformation towards a better country.

In this regard, one of the key areas in which we have taken the most significant steps forward has been working with the main healthcare institutions in support of our public health system through the adoption of new technologies. The development of the Innovation Access Program for the Catalan Health System (PASS) has been a pioneering initiative aimed primarily at ensuring innovations reach the public, promoting equity and the sustainability of the healthcare system itself. PASS brings together research, innovation and a social dimension, and has helped accelerate processes, generate synergies, and establish new mechanisms so that new technologies can reach the healthcare system quickly, safely, and effectively.

In parallel, the creation of the new Catalonia Advanced Therapies Network (ATMP Catalonia) is also a paradigm of how we are directing innovation toward real healthcare needs. ATMP Catalonia has been consolidated as an alliance of the main public and private stakeholders of the BioRegion of Catalonia, laying the groundwork for the future of personalized medicine—from clinical research to manufacturing, scaling, and patient access. This project has enabled us to begin positioning Catalonia as a leading European hub in the development of advanced therapies, bringing together researchers, companies, hospitals, and industry around a shared goal.

The year 2024 has also been key in consolidating our international position. In this context, Biocat’s leadership in the European PRECISEU project—one of only five Regional Innovation Valleys funded by the European Commission—has been essential. This initiative has strengthened our presence in the European landscape, especially in areas such as digital health, the use of clinical data, advanced therapies, and precision medicine. Thanks to this project, we have not only identified new opportunities for our companies and institutions but have also taken on a central role in building a more integrated European healthcare future and a globally competitive tech industry.

None of these achievements would have been possible without an ecosystem rich in talent, knowledge, capabilities, commitment, and ambition. In 2024, the BioRegion has once again proven its capacity to attract high-value investments and professionals of recognised excellence—and, equally important, to retain them and offer environments where they can grow and thrive. This is why initiatives like the new ATMP Catalyst acceleration program, launched in 2025, help us identify high-impact projects led by outstanding teams and support them in their valorisation and scaling process, so that ultimately they can return their value to the ecosystem and generate a direct impact on society.

Finally, I would like to highlight a particularly significant milestone of this past year: the presentation, in February 2025, of the BioRegion of Catalonia Report 2024, which this year reached its 10th edition. This anniversary symbolises the consolidation of a strategic, benchmark tool for the sector—one that allows us to analyse and project our ecosystem both nationally and internationally, and that reflects the maturity and track record we’ve built over more than fifteen years.

With this report, then, we want to reflect on the path travelled in 2024, but above all, to share a vision of a future in which the BioRegion of Catalonia continues to position itself as a health innovation hub capable of generating scientific, economic, industrial, and social impact. None of this would be possible without the people and organisations who, day after day, help make our BioRegion a successful collective project.

I invite you to share this vision and to keep working together to meet future challenges and continue building a BioRegion that serves the health and well-being of society.