BIO Deutschland at BIOTECHNICA 2013
BIO Deutschland was one of over 600 exhibitors at this year’s BIOTECHNICA in Hanover, where it presented entrepreneurship and developments in the field of sustainable pharmacy on a joint stand with the environmental foundation, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). Many of the over 10,000 visitors to the trade fair showed great interest in the topic. Visitors learned about the advantages of industrial biotechnology’s sustainable processes and about BIO Deutschland’s work over a very special alcohol-free beer. The sector association also took advantage of Europe’s only established leading trade fair for biotechnology to hold its tenth general assembly and to elect a new board. The marketplaces, which were held for the first time at this year’s BIOTECHNICA, also proved popular with visitors and provided an ideal forum for discussions and exchange. BIO Deutschland was actively involved in planning and organising the Personalised Medicine Technologies Marketplace. It also provided a range of support services for the Industrial Biotechnology Marketplace, where it was represented on the jury for the competition to find the bioeconomy’s next business model. Over the course of two days, twelve companies presented their work and promising business models for the bioeconomy in the form of elevator pitches to the jury comprised of Hans-Christian Schaefer of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt; Christian Patermann, a former director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation; and Viola Bronsema, Managing Director of BIO Deutschland. The jury awarded prizes to m2p-labs on the first day and to Qmilch on the second day for their impressive business models.
Five of BIO Deutschland’s eleven working groups used the trade fair as an opportunity to hold meetings. The feedback from association members who had a stand at BIOTECHNICA was very positive. Members said that they made a large number of useful contacts and that this also compared favourably with BIOTECHNICA 2011.
