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By Biocat

The four European partners of the bioXclusters project —Biocat (Catalonia), BioM (Bavaria), bioPmed (Piedmont) and Lyonbiopole (Rhône-Alpes)— have signed a memorandum of understanding for two years with the Fundação Instituto Polo Avançado da Saúde de Ribeirão Preto (FIPASE) of Brazil to boost collaboration among European and Brazilian SMEs in the life sciences arena. Collaboration may include alliances between companies, technology transfer, creating new projects or exchanging information on local markets, processes and technical aspects of landing in each region.

"The FIPASE-bioXclusters partnership will be an open door to Brazilian and European companies," said João Santana da Silva, president of FIPASE.

FIPASE is a Brazilian public foundation that manages the technology park of Ribeirão Preto, Supera (business incubator), CEDINA (technology services laboratory) and the regional health cluster. FIPASE has close links to universities and acts as a support organization for the economic and technological development of Ribeirão Preto (Brazil), particularly in the sectors of medical and dental devices, biotechnology, information technology and pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Through the bioXclusters project (2012-2013), which receives support from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry and is coordinated by Enterprise Rhône-Alpes International (ERAI), the four European bioregions aim to boost the internationalization of their SMEs in three strategic markets: Brazil, China and the United States. Since the project began in 2012, the bioXclusters partners have worked on various actions to bridge the gap between SMEs and their target market, including visits from experts and trade missions and providing reports on these countries.

In total, Catalonia, Bavaria, Piedmont and Rhône-Alpes have more than 1,700 companies developing their activity mainly in the fields of oncology, personalized medicine, cardiovascular, neurological, infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The companies work with innovative approaches on cutting-edge scientific research projects, maintaining a dynamic environment for facing the current market and patients’ needs.

The Brazilian biotech market, which is still relatively underdeveloped, is found mainly in the states in the southeastern part of the country (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais). 31% of companies carry out their activity in the field of human health. This country is highly attractive for European SMEs due to the growth of its market share in recent years, which is clearly above average. In fact, Brazil is expected to be among the top five business centers in the world in biotechnology by 2015 and currently has the largest medical device market in Latin America.

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Questions:
Biocat
Business Development Department
Mamen Martí (Head of Internationalization)
cmarti@biocat.cat
Tel. +34 93 310 33 89

Related information:

See all the news on the bioXclusters project.

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