2025 BioRegion Report presentation event kicks off commemoration of Biocat’s 20th anniversary

The presentation of the 2025 BioRegion of Catalonia Report brought together institutional representatives, business organizations, system stakeholders and international experts for an event focused on the sector’s results and the levers needed to transform Catalonia’s life sciences and healthcare ecosystem in a pivotal year: Biocat’s 20th anniversary. The session opened with institutional remarks from President of the Government of Catalonia Salvador Illa, who reaffirmed the “Government’s absolute commitment to the whole health research sector.”  

Following the presentation of Catalonia’s key health innovation indicators by Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat, a panel discussion titled “From diagnosis to action: challenges and growth levers proposed by the industry” interpreted the data from a business perspective, moderated by ACCIÓ CEO Joan Romero. Farmaindustria President and General Manager of AMGEN Iberia Fina Lladós highlighted the ecosystem’s size —with 1,650 companies, 94 research centers and 5,700 ongoing clinical trials— and warned that Europe’s loss of competitiveness has made it necessary to rethink rules and priorities, calling for a “brave” commitment and clear prioritization of the healthcare sector. Fenin Catalunya President and Regional Director of Hartmann Marc Pérez stressed that the sector has consolidated its place as the country’s third-largest economic driver and called for continued support for Biocat to preserve this diverse, cohesive ecosystem. Meanwhile, Catalonia.Health President and GoodGut CEO Mariona Serra emphasized the positive interpretation of investment data and urged public authorities to advance at the same pace as the sector, with governance that treats innovation as an investment. 

The second panel, “Transforming to move forward: key projects redefining the ecosystem”, focused on structural reforms and initiatives and was moderated by Director General for Research and Innovation at the Catalan Ministry of Health Antoni Plasència. Manel del Castillo, president of the Committee for Evaluation, Innovation and Operational Reform of the Health System (CAIROS), explained that the project focuses on action and argued that lack of regulatory flexibility has become a bottleneck for implementing improvements. Jordi Piera, director of the Catalan Health Service (CatSalut) Digital Health Strategy Office, identified information siloing as one of the main barriers and stressed scalability and territorial equity as core goals of the digital strategy. From Biocat, Montserrat Daban reinforced the commitment to making Catalonia a hub for advanced therapies, pointing to infrastructure and funding limitations in late-stage clinical phases. Assumpta Ricart, manager of Integrated Healthcare Processes at CatSalut, detailed how the system has launched 18 transformative projects for public procurement of innovation to promote effective adoption of innovation. 

After a networking coffee break, the international session “Beyond the BioRegion” moderated by Tjaša Zajc, founder of Faces of Digital Health and digital health consultant, compared reforms and best practices in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The speakers agreed on the central role of sustained digitalization, data governance and regional ecosystems. In this context, Mark Britnell from the UK pointed to the importance of reform plans and collaboration between the healthcare system and industry; Elina Drankvik from Finland highlighted the comprehensive digitalization of records and social trust; Morten Elbæk Petersen from Denmark emphasized the widespread use of the national eHealth portal; and Michel Silvestri from Sweden underscored institutional maturity and quality records as key differentiating factors.

One of the most anticipated moments was the keynote delivered by Pep Martorell, partner at Invivo Partners and former associate director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), who described artificial intelligence as the “new driver” of the BioRegion and noted that the combination of computing, big data and investment has accelerated research and innovation, with technological infrastructure serving as a competitive advantage. The morning concluded with institutional closing remarks from Catalan Minister of Health Olga Pané.  
 

In the afternoon, the program focused on investment and the industry’s technological frontiers. The conversation “Investment Outlook 2026” brought together Kelly Curtin, managing director at Stifel Global Healthcare Group, and Montserrat Vendrell, partner at Asabys Partners. Curtin noted a biotech recovery in 2025 and projected increased market activity in 2026, while Vendrell argued that attracting capital has led to reinvestment in innovation and growth. 

Michael May, CEO of the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), reviewed the center’s history since 2011 and highlighted the importance of partnerships in scaling regenerative medicine and cell and gene therapies.

This was followed by the debate “Redefining therapeutic frontiers” moderated by Ignasi Belda, director of the Applied Technology Laboratory and Experimentation Department at the Bank of Spain, which examined how AI, quantum computing and digitalization are redefining drug discovery and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Participants included Pedro Álvarez de la Gala, head of Digital Innovation and Customer Experience at Roche Farma; Susana Conde, senior principal scientist for Discovery Chemistry at Johnson & Johnson; Omar Puertas, partner at Cuatrecasas; Marta Tolos, executive director of AI and Platforms at the AstraZeneca Global Hub in Barcelona; and Francesco Oggionni, global head of Data Platforms, Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance Service Lines at Sanofi.

For the third year in a row, the event also featured BioEmprendedores, an interview with Sanofi Spain General Manager Raquel Tapia led by Rosendo Garganta and Óscar Porcel, and finished off with institutional closing remarks from Catalan Minister for Research and Universities Núria Montserrat. 

Kicking off the celebration of Biocat’s 20th anniversary

During the presentation of the 2025 BioRegion of Catalonia Report, Biocat officially launched the celebration of its 20th anniversary. One of the most participatory moments of the day invited attendees to answer the question: “What do you expect from the BioRegion of Catalonia over the next 20 years?” Participants were asked to describe the future of the BioRegion in one word, creating a shared vision of ambition and maturity. The most frequently repeated words included growth, leadership, consolidation, talent and impact.

The event also featured a moment of reflection and perspective with Montserrat Vendrell, partner at Asabys and former Biocat CEO, who looked back on the organization’s early years in a conversation with event host Aurora Masip. The discussion recalled the organization’s first steps, its founding challenges and the evolution of an ecosystem that, two decades later, is confidently projecting itself into the future.