AseBio sees record number of members

The Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio) closed out 2021 with an all-time high in new additions to the association. For the first time in its 20 years of history, the association has 284 members, including multinational corporations, start-ups, national companies, universities, research bodies, technology parks and foundations. Of these, 65.5% focus on healthcare biotechnology, 38.5% on professional and R&D services, nearly 17% on agrifood biotech and 16.5% on industrial biotech.

Fina Lladós, general manager of Amgen (founding partner of AseBio) and member of the board of directors, explains that when Amgen first came to Spain more than three decades ago, "the Spanish biotechnology sector was still in the very early stages". For the founders, she notes, AseBio was very encouraging. "It laid the groundwork for building a business fabric where everyone pushes in the same direction and that could become a driving force, as is happening in this country. The current situation and influx of European funds are a historic opportunity for AseBio and all of its members," she adds.

With a heavy presence in the healthcare sector from the very beginning, AseBio is also committed to green biotechnology as it plays an increasingly important role in the social and economic development of our country. In the past five years, 15% of the companies that have joined AseBio work in agrifood and are helping position the sector as an essential driving force for the green transition. The latest to join the family, in December 2021, was MOA Foodtech. As the company's CEO and founder Bosco Esparanza notes, "AseBio is a platform for connections". And he continues, "We come from a different sector, food. However, the food industry, despite currently being the biggest polluter, is becoming a sustainable industry and the main tool for that transformation is biotechnology. This is why we want to strengthen our ties with other stakeholders in the sector. Although the application is different, the tools are the same."

The two years of the pandemic have been a turning point, for AseBio too. AseBio Chairwoman Ana Polanco highlighted that the sector's combination of science and industry "makes us an active part of the recovery agenda". But we aren't there yet: "There are still many projects that need to be launched for biotechnology to reach its full transformative potential. To achieve this goal and tackle the future challenges that await us, our members' work is crucial. Only working with them closely can we continue to promote innovation-based biotechnology solutions."