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August
2006 - Issue 15
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State aid:
Commission adopts Guidelines on state aid to support risk
capital investments
in SMEs.
The European Commission has adopted Guidelines to
determine when state aid to support risk capital investment in
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is compatible with EC
Treaty state aid rules (Article 87). The rules will facilitate
access to finance for SMEs in their early stages of development,
particularly where alternative means of funding from financial
markets are lacking (i.e. market failure).
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference
=IP/06/1015&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr
Commission to
present its Regulation on Community Patent in October.
The London protocol is to be the cornerstone for the European
Commission’s initiative on the regulation of the community
patents. this initiative which has been subject to numerous
rejections from the political ministers is once again in the
agenda of the Commission which plans to make
"one final robust attempt to push through the Community patent»
said the Commissioner for the Internal Market Charlie McCreevy.
EuropaBio is campaigning for reduced fees at EPO for biotech SMEs
on the lines of the EMEA fee reductions.
http://www.european-patent-office.org
Cordis
article -
http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&RCN
=26008&DOC=1&CAT=NEWS&QUERY=1154034999092
Europe's Patent
Regime at the Crossroads by Paul Meller
http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/ebulletins/showissue.php3?page=/548/art/5904
Member States
reach agreement on Framework Programme for Research and Innovation
in Europe.
On
July 24th 2006 the European Competitiveness
Council reached a political agreement between member states on
the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP7)
which will be the EU’s main instrument for funding Community
scientific research and technological development from 2007 –
2013. They also voted to allow embryonic stem cell research to
continue
The agreement now has to be endorsed by the European Parliament in
Autumn.
EuroapBio press release -
http://www.europabio.org/articles/EBIoPR_FP7andstemcells_240706.doc
Euractiv article - EU funding of stem cell research to trigger
'brain gain'?
http://www.euractiv.com/en/science/eu-funding-stem-cell-research-trigger-brain-gain/article-156956
New EuropaBio
web page on the European BioSecurity and BioDefence Task Force
EuropaBio has set up a European BioSecurity & BioDefence Task
Force, a new web page presenting the Task Force and work programme
is now on line.
http://www.europabio.org/eu_biosecurity.htm
Europe hesitates to fund cancer and new treatment research.
Big gap in the research funding between the EU and the US. The FP6
did not attribute equitable funds on cancer research and its
application to new treatments and the diagnostics. According to a
survey conducted by the European Commission very few proposals
actually come to term and gain the sponsorship for such research.
The EU Commission hopes that the FP7 will attribute more on
research and new treatments and try and reach the US standards.For
more information, please visit:
http://www.plos.org/index.php
2nd EPPOSI Workshop on
the Value of Innovation
The workshop will take place at Dublin Castle, Ireland on 22 - 23
January 2007
(http://www.epposi.org/)
and is organized with the support of the Irish government. Its aim
is to identify practical actions in order to ensure that
biomedical research is appropriately valued and rewarded, that
world-class research is sustained and that the needs of patients
with serious or life-threatening diseases can be met. The outputs
will be used to inform policy makers and help shape
civil-society’s understanding of the need for sustained
high-quality biomedical R & D in Europe.
DG Environment
publishes brochure on GMO policies.
New
brochure about EU policy on Biotechnology (focusing on GMO's) from
the Commission’s DG Environment.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/biotechnology/pdf/eu_policy_biotechnology.pdf
McKinsey: By 2010 industrial biotechnology
will account for 10 percent of sales within the chemical industry.
New Data About Growth in Industrial Biotech Sector was
presented by Mc Kinsey at the EuropaBio sponsored World Congress
on Industrial Biotech that took place in
Toronto mid
July. Jens Riese, a partner at McKinsey & Company, presented
up-to-date data and projections for adoption of industrial
biotechnology within the biofuels and chemicals industries, in a
plenary titled "Industrial Biotechnology -- Turning Potential into
Profits," McKinsey & Company predicts that by 2010 industrial
biotechnology will account for 10 percent of sales within the
chemical industry, accounting for $125 billion in value. Riese
said that McKinsey & Company has 90 percent confidence in this
projected growth, based on the current value of industrial
biotechnology. Already as of 2005, industrial biotechnology --
counting products made from biobased feedstocks or through
fermentation or enzymatic conversion -- accounts for 7 percent of
sales and $77 billion in value within the chemical sector.
Much of the projected growth in adoption of industrial
biotechnology is attributable to biofuels -- ethanol and biodiesel
-- as production is rapidly increasing to meet demand driven by
government mandates. Other areas projected to grow rapidly include
pharmaceutical ingredients, polymers, and enzymes. However, Riese
stressed, to meet future demand and maintain growth, biofuel
production will have to adopt biotechnology processes that make
use of broader feedstocks, including cellulose biomass. "To meet
demand just from mandated usage, we need to do something different.
The key to expanding biofuel production is tapping into new
agricultural feedstocks," Riese said.
Speakers
Plaza - Register your profile online!
Would you
like to be considered to present at one of our upcoming
conferences? Do you want to take the opportunity to share ideas
with other colleagues involved in your sector? Do you have
expertise in specific fields and would like to share your
experience and knowledge? Then fill in our electronic form to
submit your application.
http://www.europabio.org/speakers.asp
EuropaBio Job PLAZA – Post your vacancies Free-of-Charge
The
EuropaBio Life Science Jobs in Europe database offers the possibility of
posting job vacancies in the European biotech industry. The database is
open to all European biotech companies; there is no registration or
login required.
Surf to and post at:
http://www.europabio.org/jobs.htm
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