Biocat Board of Trustees welcomes new members
New representatives and key projects mark the first meeting of the Biocat Board of Trustees, which welcomes key figures from the sector and outlines the roadmap for consolidating Catalonia as a benchmark in health innovation.
The Biocat Board of Trustees met on Thursday June 26 in Palau de Pedralbes in a session presided by the Minister of Health Olga Pané, with representatives from institutions and the healthcare sector. The meeting was a chance to welcome prominent new members and establish the strategic lines that will guide Biocat’s actions over the coming years.
New members
During the meeting, five very important new members were officially inducted into the Board:
- Mr. Ricardo Rafael Suárez – Representing Farmaindustria, President of AstraZeneca Farmacéutica Spain.
- Mr. Albert Giralt – General Manager of the AVINENT Group, Representing Fenin Catalonia.
- Rector Laia de Nadal – Rector of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
- Mr. Àngel Font – Executive Director of CaixaResearch Institute.
- Mr. Alberto Ouro – Secretary of the Biocat Board of Trustees, partner for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at RCD.
Part of the Board of Trustees Executive Committee also changed:
- Mr. Antoni Plasencia i Taradac – Catalan Ministry of Health and Director General for Research and Innovation.
- Mr. Xavier Roca Ramon – Catalan Ministry of Business and Labor and General Director for Industry.
- Ms. Lídia Martín Pereda – Representing Farmaindustria, General Manager of Almirall.
Main topics covered in the meeting
The meeting also addressed strategic issues for sector development, with updates on the state of progress on several projects Biocat is running:
- ATMP Catalonia: creating an advanced therapies hub with pilot projects and a network of public and private agents in order to make Catalonia one of the top three European hubs in this field.
- PASS: rolling out the Catalan Health System Innovation Access Program, with an innovation platform, support unit and support tools to assess and implement innovative solutions in Catalan hospitals.
- EEDS: preparing to implement the European Health Data Space with an office to access data for secondary use, in line with European regulations.
- PRECISEU: a European project for leadership in personalized medicine, with the first Regional Innovation Valley, signed with the European Commission, 25 partners and a budget of more than €22 million to promote data, ATMP and digital health initiatives.
The meeting helped consolidate institutional and sector-based commitment to innovation, internationalization and public-private partnership, with unanimous support for the new members and strategic lines that will chart the future of the BioRegion of Catalonia.