The purpose of this section of our website is to give professionals a brief overview of the main biotech clusters around Europe and Internationally that might provide the job and career development opportunities that they are seeking. These are biotech clusters with which Liftstream has client relationships.

Biocat – The Biocluster of Catalonia, Spain

Perched on the edge of the Mediterranean is the Catalonian city of Barcelona. This might appear like an unlikely place for biotechnology to be blossoming but it is now a rapidly growing and prospering region that offers considerable career opportunities to biotechnology professionals while enjoying the considerable quality of life benefits that this pulsating city can provide.

Aside from being a great location to live, Barcelona is one of Europe’s main metropolises and is considered among the top 5 European locations for business with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, according to Asebio (Spanish Association of Biotech Companies), Catalonia was the most dynamic region in Spain for the creation of biotech companies in 2006 and 2007, with almost 30% of all companies being created here.

 

‘About 800 people in the Biotech sector and 20,000 in the Pharma sector’

 

The Catalan biotech sector is currently in rapid growth, due to a solid scientific base together with the recent creation of industry-driven government instruments and policies.

The current trend of the young Catalan biotech sector is to grow up from the base, at a rate of more than 10 companies per year. (CataloniaBio).

 

Biotech and Pharma

It is difficult for any biotech cluster to prosper without the presence of any established companies. Catalonia has a strong presence of pharmaceutical, chemical and diagnostic sectors as well as four domestic players: Almirall, Esteve, Group Ferrer and Uriach, with one of these companies making its debut on the equity markets.

 

Subsidiaries of the following multinationals have chosen Catalonia, with Pfizer, GSK, Novartis, Bayer and Sanofi-Aventis all present. The Spanish pharmaceutical sector is mainly concentrated in Catalonia, which accounts for 50% of the pharmaceutical laboratories in Spain, 60% of its production, and 66% of companies working in fine chemicals.

 

Science Parks

There are nine Science and Technology parks in the cluster and these vary in size, facilities and focus. If you’re a biotech entrepreneur and would like to know more about the different facilities, we have included links here for you to follow:

 

Science Park (PCB)              www.pcb.ub.cat

Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB)             www.prbb.org

UAB Research Park              www.uab.es

University of Girona Science and Technology Park       www.udg.edu

Lleida Agri-Food Science and Technology Park           www.parcteclleida.es

Tecnoparc                              www.technoparc.com

Parc Tecnologic del Valles     www.ptv.es

UPC Park                              www.upc.edu

22@Barcelona                       www.22barcelona.com

 

 

30% of Spanish biomedical research is carried out in Catalonia, mainly in Cancer and degenerative diseases.

 

Companies

 

About 250 companies are linked to the biotechnology and pharma sector, 60 of them solely focusing on biotechnology and 62 on pharma. Most of the ‘strictly biotech’ firms focus on red biotech (over 65%), particularly on drug development (70%) and to a lesser extent, diagnostics. (25%).

There are some incredibly exciting companies in the region, including Oryzon Genomics, Omnia Molecular, ERA Biotech, Neuroscience Technologies and GP Pharm. If you wish to know more about the companies that can offer career opportunities in the region, then contact Liftstream and they can talk through the different biotech companies in the cluster.

 

At Liftstream we like this biotech cluster because it is young and ambitious. It has a great blend of Universities, leading hospitals, clinical trials, research institutions and government incentives for R&D. There is a commercial industry working collaboratively and stimulating the creation of early stage ventures, with a strong investment community in support. Liftstream would be willing to discuss these different elements with you if you’re interested in Catalonia based biotech, pharma or life science job opportunities.

 

www.biocat.cat

biocat - The BioRegion of Catalonia

Pg Lluis Companys, 23

08010 Barcelona (Spain)

Phone +34 93 310 3330