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European Union Commissioner Dimas’ proposed rejection of
two GM maize products would undermine the EU’s safety
assessment process, says EuropaBio
...
“Commisioner Dimas is recycling old and already refuted
arguments and proposing the rejection of two products that
have been comprehensively evaluated by the EFSA, in doing so
Commissioner Dimas is attempting to undermine the entire EU
safety assessment process across a broad range of innovative
activities and products to come,” stated Johan Vanhemelrijck
in a press release following the publication of an
International Herald Tribune IHT
article which claimed the commission was proposing a ban
on genetically modified corn seeds.
EuropaBio’s
press release was widely picked up in the
European media and kicked off a week of intense engagement
with the world’s press regarding the European GMO approval
process. To see the follow-up IHT article with the headline
“Biotech industry fights back over EU claims on
modified crops”, please click
here.
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EU-US Transatlantic Administrative Simplification Workshop
looked to harmonize medicines approval process
Industry presented 28 areas for simplification in the
approval and marketing authorization of medicines to EU and
US authorities at the Transatlantic Administrative
Simplification Workshop in Brussels. To see EuropaBio’s
related press release, please click
here. To see the
TransAtlantic Business Dialogue’s (TABD) site please click
here.
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Advanced Therapy
Regulation formally adopted
On 30 October 2007 the Council has formally adopted the
Regulation on advanced therapy medicinal products. For all
documents related to this adoption (all linguistic versions
of the Regulation, results of voting, video of the Council
debate etc.) please click
here.
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EFB
scientists hand Commissioner Dimas open letter and engage
with press at Greenpeace’s parody “EuropaGMO” protest
Greenpeace send up of EuropaBio backfired as scientists
presented an open letter
to Commissioner for the Environment Dimas Stavros at the
Berlaymont – the same venue where Greenpeace was staging the
protest. The letter expressed the EFB’s concern on
reading about the commissioner’s
draft decisions to reject
two Bt maize product submissions based on discredited
scientific arguments that have not been reviewed by the
European Food Safety Authority. To read the letter, please
click
here.
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DG
Research publishes EuropaBio position on biofuels
DG research has published
EuropaBio’s position on biofuels. EuropaBio's Biofuels Task
Force states that biotechnology will be needed to wring a
higher yield out of each year's harvest in order to reach
the 10% biofuel target by 2020. To read the text on DG
Research’s news website, click
here.
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European Parliament endorses an international agreement on
improving access to medicines for developing countries
The European Parliament has given its assent to a protocol
amending a World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on
trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights
(TRIPS) on 24 October 2007. The protocol aims to facilitate
developing countries' access to medicines, by enabling
countries "with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in
the pharmaceutical sector" to address public health
emergencies, such as AIDS or malaria, by importing cheap
generic versions of patented drugs. For more information,
click
here.
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Guardian
says Brussels and US deal will bring huge expansion in
biodiesel
The EU and America are expected to agree international
standards for trading biofuels that could see a huge
expansion in the global market for alternative sources of
power senior US diplomats said yesterday. C Boyden Gray, US
ambassador to the EU, said he expects the two sides to
signal the adoption of "pretty firm" international standards
at a meeting of the new Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC)
in Washington on November 9. These could be fully adopted by
the end of the year. To read the entire article, click
here.
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BusinessEurope’s SME action day: “Thinking
big”
BusinessEurope’s SME action day: “Thinking big” which took
place
in
Brussels on 21 November. A survey presented by KPMG found
that SMEs tend to look to regional and national support
programs for funding even though funding is available at the
European level. It was suggested that one reason could be a
knowledge gap – and that SMEs are simply not aware that EU
funds exist. For more information, please visit the
event’s home page. For information about EU FP7 research
funding earmarked for SMEs, please click
here or contact EuropaBio’s Vally Fidelman,
v.fidelman@europabio.org
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December 2007 |
4 December: BioEthics conference, Brussels
For more information, please contact EuropaBio's
Adeline Farrelly or visit the website by
clicking
here.
4 December: EPPOSI workshop on patients safety,
Luxembourg
This workshop concerns “Best Practices on
Communicating risks and the Value of Safety to
Patients with Chronic Diseases”.
To learn more, contact
giovanni.asta@epposi.org.
7 December:
France Biotech holds hearing on the Value of
Research
For more information, please click
here to visit the website. |
|
January 2008 |
14-15 January 2008; Plant International Meeting
2008; Angers, France
Value Creation. R&D, intellectual property, market
needs, route to market, promotion will be the issues
developed at this meeting. For more information
please contact
Nadia Chibouti,
n.chibouti@ouest-atlantique.org. |
|
March 2008 |
6-8 March; European Course for Life Sciences
Executives (ECLE);
Basel, Switzerland
ECLE is conceived as an interactive Course for Life
Sciences managers who prepare for leadership
positions and, therefore, seek an intensive
preparation and repetition for how to effectively
run a successful enterprise or department. For more
information, please visit:
www.ecpm.ch/ecle
12-14 March: BioSquare 2008; Basel, Switzerland
The three-day event features a full program
including panels and workshops led by corporate
executives and biotech experts. BioSquare also
features a company presentation track including not
only the up and coming biotech companies but also
the largest Life Sciences companies presenting their
in/out licensing strategies. For more information,
please visit:
http://www.biosquare.com/ |
|
April 2008 |
|
17-19 April; European Course for Life Sciences
Executives (ECLE);
Basel, Switzerland |
|
June 2008 |
17-20 June: BIO 2008; San Diego, California
For more information, visit:
http://www.bio2008.org/
22-26 June: 4th EPSO Conference:
‘Plants for Life’, Toulon (Côte
d’Azur),
France
At this plant conference, scientists from
academia and industry in Europe and around the
world will present and discuss cutting edge
science and future collaborations. Together with
non-plant scientists they will build an
interface to new areas. Experts from academia,
industry and politics discuss socially relevant
topics. Participation is limited to 400 people.
For more information, click here:www.epsoweb.org/catalog/conf2008.htm
|
|
September 2008 |
17-19 September: BIOSPAIN 2008, Granada, Spain
Organization of BioSpain is led by ASEBIO. The event
will be divided to five workshops: Scientific
Seasons, International Conferences, Investment
Forum, Partnering Activities and Trade Fair. Granada
has been selected as a new core of Biotech
Development in Spain. For more information, please
click
here. |
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